The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered notice to the State on a public interest litigation petition that alleged illegal sand quarrying and extraction of water along the Tamirabharani by owners of some brick kilns.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and K. Murali Shankar ordered the notice on the petition filed by G. Pachaiperumal of Thoothukudi district, seeking a direction to authorities concerned to prevent illegal sand quarrying.
The petitioner said the river that flowed through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts was the main source for irrigation and power generation in these districts. Recently, the State government allocated funds to build a check dam across the river near Sriparankusanallur in Thoothukudi district.
The owners of some brick kilns having patta lands near the check dam site were quarrying river sand and using the river water for making bricks. They also encroached on the water catchment area, he said.
The petitioner said they were influential people and were running the operations without licence.
