File photo of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has ordered the suspension of mining and transportation of minerals including garnet, Ilemnite and rutile across the state till all 71 beach mineral mining quarries are investigated for irregularities.
The focus is particularly on four hot spots - Kanniyakumari, Tirunelvelli, Madurai and Trichy districts - where quarries will be investigated, and a specially constituted team headed by Revenue Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi will submit a report, based on which the government will take a final policy decision on mineral mining.
The crackdown came on a day the senior bureaucrat submitted his report on beach mining in the Tuticorin district following allegations of illegal mining and violations.
Recently, Ashish Kumar, the collector of Tuticorin, who had raided the politically well-connected VV Minerals Group and alleged illegal mining to the tune of 2.5 lakh metric tonnes, was shunted the same day.
But it was Sundaram, a bureaucrat-turned-whistleblower, who was also the Collector of the combined Tirunelvelli and Tuticorin district, who had estimated losses caused by this company at Rs 96,000 crore and had wanted the probe to be extended to adjoining districts. Speaking to NDTV he said "my stand has been vindicated. It is a huge victory for me."
VV Minerals has denied these allegations. It says the allegations are a conspiracy by their business rivals.
This is the first time the largely unchecked mineral mining industry has come under detailed scrutiny. The big question is why this staggered investigation and will it result in concrete action?