Withdraw plans for sand mine on Thenpennai river bed, youngsters petition administration

VILLUPURAM: Youngsters petitioned the district administration, urging them on Wednesday to withdraw plans for a sand mine to be built on Thenpennai river bed in Yenathimangalam village. They said the river, already depleted of ground water, would bear severe environmental impacts.

On June 2, a public opinion meeting for setting up a sand mine along the river at Yenathimangalam village was held. An environmental assessment by the Public Works Department was presented. However, youngsters and environmental activists opposed the proposal as the groundwater levels in the surrounding villages would run low.

Environmental activist A Akilan said, "The district's groundwater level has already gone down to about 500 metres in areas near the Thenpennai river, because of illegal sand mining in the last 10 years."

 According to the youngsters' petition, "The current EA had been done by the PWD alone, and impact on agriculture in the area was done by  officials. We need an agricultural impact report indicating irrigation status, and harvest rates of crops in the proposed area for the last 10 years. Further, another report is needed on future plans for the villages."

The petition further stated that agriculture here reduced in the last decade. "If the proposed sand mine will come to function, all villages will face drought in the next five years along with a severe threat of flooding in the monsoons," it added.

Officials said that the issue will be resolved after an investigation.