“The district administration is not reacting to the sand mafia also and help them in quarrying, has made the villagers more disobedient,” former panchayat president M Srinivasan told DT Next. “While quarrying has affected local farming, what surprising is that even lorry drivers, with official tokens complain about the officials’ 

opinionated attitude.” 

Driver Kumaresan (39) from Vanagaram said, “I have been waiting here for 8 days and despite having an official token for loading the sand, I have not been able to load any. Nearly 60 unofficial loads are carted off daily.” 

Meanwhile, in Vellore, senior officials remain clueless about the order from the MHC closure of all sand quarries in TN within six months to save the environment. Collector SA Raman when asked about the issue said, “As this is a state-wide issue, we can only act when state government issues orders.”