HC stops SH from mining sand from Vaigai for road project

Madurai: Madras high court has restrained state highways authorities from mining sand from the Vaigai river for the road project on the northern bank of the road from Arapalayam to Samayanallur in Madurai.A division bench of justice G R Swaminathan and justice B Pugalendhi passed the interim order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Vaigai Rajan alias M Nagarajan, founder of the Vaigai Nathi Makkal Iyakkam.The petitioner stated that the state highways authorities proposed to lay an 8km long two-lane road with a width of 10.5m along the northern bank of the Vaigai river from near the Kamarajar bridge in Arapalayam to Samayanallur, connecting with NH 44, at a cost of 165 crore. He claimed that, under the guise of laying the road, a water-flowing area of the river was encroached upon.When he visited the place, he witnessed rampant mining of soil from the riverbed using heavy machinery for extraction and transportation. Since the original sediment of river sand was extracted from its core surface, it led to environmental damage such as riverbed degradation, loss of aquatic habitat, water table depletion, soil erosion, and loss of fertile land.The petitioner stated that even though funds were allotted for the road project, authorities did not utilise them for the purchase of sand and were illegally mining sand from the Vaigai river. Therefore, it was necessary to investigate the issue. He stated that he submitted a representation to the authorities seeking an inquiry. However, no action was taken so far.Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a direction to the authorities to remove the encroachments in Vaigai river and restore the river to its original position. The petitioner also sought a direction to the authorities to initiate action against those involved in illegal mining of sand from the river for the project.