The Alappuzha Karimanal Ghanana Virudha Ekopana Samithi (KGVES) has demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into mineral sand-mining at Thottappally.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, KGVES chairman S. Suresh Kumar alleged that the Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML) had transported 54-lakh tonne of mineral sand from Thottappally pozhi in the last three years. “The KMML has been ferrying sand from Thottappally day and night using 300 trucks, each having a capacity of 20 tonnes since 2019. In the absence of a weighbridge, the company is removing and transporting sand as per its will. The KMML with the support of powerful people in the government indulges in corrupt practices by transferring the sand containing atomic minerals to private companies. A court-monitored CBI probe is needed to unearth the extent of corruption,” Mr. Kumar said.
The KGVES said the State government had allowed the KMML to extract mineral sand from pozhi in the name of disaster management (preventing floods in Kuttanad) at the rate of ₹464.55 per tonne as against the market rate of ₹14, 618.
“By selling below the market rate, the State exchequer has suffered a loss of ₹2,841.74 crore. The sand contains ilmenite, monazite, rutile, sillimanite and so on. The KMML is selling the minerals after separating them from the sand. However, no data is available on the company’s account about monazite which contains thorium. At the same time, private companies are selling monazite. A probe should be conducted to know whether thorium is illegally exported,” alleged Mr. Kumar, adding that Cochin Minerals And Rutile Limited (CMRL) had paid money to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter as remuneration for the government’s support for mining activities at Thottappally.
He said that indiscriminate sand mining at pozhi and Thottappally harbour, the latter by IREL (India) Limited, had resulted in the destruction of 456 houses in six grama panchayats—Purakkad, Arattupuzha, Thrikkunnapuzha, Ambalappuzha North, Ambalappuzha South, and Punnapra South. Besides, agriculture in several hectares in Kuttanad had been destroyed due to the intrusion of saltwater through the Thottappally spillway, Mr. Kumar said.
