The Kerala High Court has directed the State Chief Secretary to constitute a committee to determine whether sand mining should be carried out from the Thottapalli ‘spillway’ in Alappuzha district, to ensure that the activity does not cause any adverse ecological or environmental impact.
‘Spillway’ is a structure or passage through which excess water from a dam or reservoir is safely taken out, so that the water level is controlled and the dam is not damaged. A bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Shyam Kumar VM said that this committee will determine and monitor all aspects of removing or mining soil or sand after assessing the ecological impact.
The bench said that from now on, sand or soil can be removed from here only after the permission of the committee. The court directed the Chief Secretary to form this committee under the chairmanship of the District Officer within two months. The committee will include experts from the Irrigation, Forest and Coastal Management Department as well as Purakkad and Thakaji Gram Panchayats of the district and locally active and expert NGOs.
The order came on petitions by Green Roots Nature Conservation Forum and a local resident challenging the District Magistrate’s order allowing removal of sand as part of flood control measures. In the order of the District Magistrate, it was suggested to remove sand to ensure uninterrupted flow of water of Pampa, Manimala and Achkovil rivers.
The petitioners claim that this activity has damaged 15 acres of sensitive area including the breeding site of ‘Olive Ridley’ turtles. The court said that the environmental impact of this activity cannot be ignored. The bench stressed that monitoring by the committee of experts would ensure that the flood control measures do not become just a simple mineral sand mining project.
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