Kerala: Opposition sees graft in Pamba sand sale

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that there is corruption and mystery behind the decision to hand over accumulated sand worth crores of rupees on the banks of Pamba River, free of cost to a public sector undertaking, Kerala clays and ceramics limited.
He said that the sand that should have fetched crores of rupees has been given free of cost to a public sector undertaking that has CPM leader C K Govindan as its chairman. He said that the chopper ride that was undertaken by the chief secretary Tom Jose and state police chief Loknath Behera is mysterious. The Pathanamthitta district collector issued an order immediately after the trip of the chief secretary and state police chief to hand over the sand to the PSU, Chennithala said.
As per the government estimates, there is more than one lakh metric tonnes of sand in Triveni in Pampa. Earlier, the government had tried to sell the sand at the rate of Rs 1,200 per metric tonne, but there were no takers as they cited that the sand was of inferior quality. Under these circumstances, instead of trying to sell the sand at a lower rate, the government has decided to hand over the sand to the PSU, he said.
He said that the district collector has said that the order has been issued on the basis of an order from the government. There is a lack of clarity in the order. It is mysterious that the sand which could not be sold in the last two years was suddenly handed over to the company under the disaster management Act, Chennithala said.