Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday asserted that her government would not tolerate illegal sand mining in the state and warned of action against violators.
"My government will not allow misuse of river beds and would deal with an iron hand against whoever is involved in illegal mining of sand," she said in an official statement in Chennai.
Referring to a recent incident where a village assistant was attacked by five persons involved in illegal mining of sand in Tirupathur, she said that police had arrested one of them, while two had surrendered before the court and efforts were on to nab the rest.
Recalling that it was in her earlier regime that mining of sand was nationalised following a court order and to ensure that the resource was not exploited by anti-social elements, she said the regulations were given the go-by during the 2006-11 DMK regime.
"The Madras High court had in 2010 banned mining of sand from Tamirabarani river for five years," she said adding her government was acting against illegal mining.
In the last one year, 5033 persons had been arrested following 4173 cases in this connection and Rs 14 crore imposed as fine.
The government had earned a revenue of Rs 197 crore from sale of sand in the last one year, she added.