VELLORE, August 15, 2014 by A.D. BALASUBRAMANIYAN
CPI (M) activists took out a 13-km march from Walajapet to Mel
Visharam on Thursday, urging the government to protect the river Palar from sand-mining.
Leading the march from Walajapet, G.
Ramakrishnan, State secretary of the party, said that exploitation of sand
deposits was rampant ever since the government began quarrying activities in
the State in 2003. It was continuing unabated through successive the AIADMK and
DMK regimes. “The Madras High Court ordered not to engage earth movers to scoop
sand from rivers and restricted the miners from going beyond three feet deep.
But they go even up to 30 feet deep. Politician-sand mafia nexus became so
notorious that government officials and policemen who took action were attacked
or killed. ” he said.
The sand mafia not only exploits river sand
but also exploits consumers by slapping exorbitant price on sand loads, Mr.
Ramakrishnan said Addressing the volunteers participating in the march,
N.Gunasekaran, State secretariat member of the party, said that five lakh
families belonging to five districts including Vellore and Tiruvannamalai
depend on the Palar for their livelihood. “However, the river is not merely a
livelihood source; it is a historic monument; an identity of Tamil civilisation
and pivot of its long culture. The government’s erroneous policy was
responsible for the river’s present sorry state. The murder of police constable
Kanagaraj while attempting to stop a vehicle from smuggling sand is a pointer
to an impending disaster,” Mr.Gunasekaran observed.
The marchers also wanted action against
pollution of the Palar by industrial effluents and wanted eviction of
encroachments from the river. A.Narayanan, district secretary of the party,
Thinapuratchi, an activist of Joint Committee for Palar Protection and former
MLA Hasan were among the participants.