‘I will not tolerate baseless allegations on sand mining’ – Pramod Madhwaraj
Manipal: “I will not tolerate any baseless accusations leveled against me on sand mining henceforth”, said Minister in-charge District Pramod Madhwaraj. He was speaking during his surprise visit to Mines and Geology Department, Rajathadri, Manipal here on September 11.
“Baseless allegations are leveled against me by persons who want to hinder the development in the district. The intentions of those leveling baseless accusations against me are to destroy the sand mining in the district. I do not have any links with the M-Sand, M-Sand is promoted by the Government of Karnataka as part of its policy,” said Madhwaraj.
“Only those who are interested in sand mining should continue, if any kind of violations is reported, the sand blocks will be given to other applicants. The guidelines on sand mining are formulated after consulting legal experts, reviewing judgments and suggestions of NGT. The law does not permit sand mining in the CRZ limits, the law clearly states the removal of the sand creating hurdles to the movement of the boats. The sand blocks are identified in areas having excess sand and create hurdles in the movements of the boats. The priority of the district administration is to ensure the supply of sand and also to preserve nature.”
“I have not been involved in the sand mining committee forming the guidelines, it is their discretion which is taken into account while formulating the guidelines. The district administration has followed utmost transparency in formulating the guidelines,” Madhwaraj clarified.
The applicants who had applied for the sand blocks had gathered in the Mines and Geology office and said that the installation of GPS in the boats were not effectively communicated to them. They said that the GPS was available for Rs 3500 while the company notified to the install GPS was charging rupees 19,000.
The executives of the company which has been notified for the installation of the GPS said that the GPS to be installed in boats comes with a secured cabinet, battery and other accessories which are mandatory for the operation of the GPS. The GPS has to be securely installed in the boats since the coastal environment is having salinity leading to the damage of the GPS device.
The Minister said that the GPS device is essential for tracking the boats and ensure that the boats are not extracting sand other than the sand blocks allotted to them.
Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Priyanka Mary Francis said that the company selected for the procurement of the GPS meets the technical requirements and the guidelines formulated for the CRZ zone comply with the rules and judgments of the NGT.
Senior Geologist Kodandarama said that the sand extraction which was reported in Hoode was a trail project and the sand extraction will commence after the installation of GPS in the boats and vehicles. The real time data can be taken from the GPS and the action will be taken against violations, he added.