Madurai:
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the collectors of five districts in the Cauvery delta to regulate sand quarrying in the Cauvery and Kollidam rivers.
The directive to the District Collectors of Karur, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur was issued by Justice R Banumathi and Justice B Rajendran, in their interim order, while admitting a PIL petition.
Petitioner TN Mahendra Kumar, Secretary of "Cauvery Neervala Aathara Pathukappu Sangam", asked the collectors to follow the guidelines issued by the court earlier for quarrying sand.
He alleged that quarrying operations were being carried across the two rivers in violation of the Rules and Regulation of Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959.
Also alleging that the above mentioned district collectors granted license to a large number of sand quarries 'without any application of mind', Mahendra Kumar prayed for a ban on sand quarrying in the two rivers.
The judges directed the district collectors to ensure that not more than two poclain machines were used in the quarrying operations.
They further asked the collectors to stop the sand quarrying activities from 7 pm to 6 am. Apart from this, the judges also instructed the collectors and quarry operators to be in strict compliance of certain guidelines, which included collection of payment only through demand drafts and loading the sand to the vehicles directly from the quarries.
The petition was posted for further hearing on June 18.