Last update:
2017-04-24

Beach sand mining for ilmenite, garnet and other minerals in Tamil Nadu, India

In 2017, Sandhya Ravishankar, a journalist based in Chennai, was threatened for her reports on beach mining in Tamil Nadu. This is a lucrative business because of the minerals which are extracted and exported.



Description:

There is a long story of conflicts on titanium ores mining in the coast of Tamil Nadu; one of the episodes was explained at length by  environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman in October 24, 2007[2], when Tata Steel was trying to get a large stretch of red sand dunes. Ten years later, in March and April 2017,  Sandhya Ravishankar, a journalist based in Chennai, was being threatened for her reports in The Wire and The Economic Times on beach sand mining in Tamil Nadu. Beach sand mining is a lucrative business not only because it supplies raw materials to the construction industry but much more because it can make available minerals which are extracted from the sand, such as ilmenite (an ore for tinanium), zircon, rutile, garnet and others. They go mainly for export. [1] Several firms have controversially been extracting sand in the coast of Tamil Nadu for such industrial minerals for many years. This is the background to Sandhya Ravishankar's troubles in 2017. Back in 2013 she heard about a district collector in Tuticorin preparing to raid some illegal mines in the region. When she called Ashish Kumar, he confirmed that the raid was underway. Less than eight hours later, he had been transferred to another post. Ravishankar travelled through the area for a week, searching for more stories. It was during this time that she heard of the entrepreneur S. Vaikundarajan, owner of VV Mineral (VVM), a multi-crore business, and one of the most powerful men in the state. In 2013, as narrated by the The Hindu on 8 August 2013 [5],  " Special inspection teams which conducted raids on Tuesday at the sand quarry of V.V. Minerals, a company involved in mining operations in Tuticorin district, found large-scale illegal sand mining along the stretches of beaches at Vaipar, Vembar, Periyasamipuram and its surroundings in Vilathikulam taluk. Two teams comprising District Revenue Officer, Special Deputy Collector (Stamps), Assistant Director of Mines, Revenue Divisional Officer-Kovilpatti, Pollution Control Board officials and other revenue officials conducted raids at the mining locations for over six hours on Tuesday. Fines would be imposed on the offender soon based on the findings of the final report submitted to the Collector. Mr. Ashish Kumar said on Wednesday that around 81,000 cubic meters of raw sand had been mined illegally on more than 30 hectares of poromboke [commons] land at Vaipar, whereas miners were legally entitled to mine only on four hectares of leased land. Of the mined beach sand, mineral quantity of 230,000 tonnes was measured. The offence would attract punishment on charges of theft under IPC, provisions of the Tamil Nadu Public Properties Prevention of Damage and Loss Act, 1992, Illicit Mining and Minerals Act, Environmental Protection Act, 1986 and Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 2006. Based on five complaints of illegal sand mining by fishermen in June and grievances aired by them at a meeting in July, preliminary inspection was done by a committee comprising Deputy Collector (Training), Assistant Director of Mines and District Environmental Engineer ahead of the raid on Tuesday. The fishermen raised fears of sea erosion and environmental hazards owing to indiscriminate mining at beaches, the Collector said. In May, officials launched a crackdown on illegal beach mining of red sand in Beach Minerals Company (BMC) at Padugapaththu in Sathankulam taluk and a fine of Rs.3.10 crore was imposed on the offender following complaints of fishermen at the Periyathaalai coast. Illegal mining of 49.1 lakh cubic metres of raw sand and mineral quantity of 2.82 lakh tonnes from the mined property was detected (1 lakh = 100,000). An evaluation report of the mineral samples was yet to come and its fine amount would be 10 to 20 times higher than the penalty levied for raw sand mining by the BMC, he said. Such illegal operations were on in Tirunelveli district with 26 sand quarries and some in Kanyakumari district also, he said." This was the report in The Hindu and also in the EPW [7]  in 2013.  ============================================  Four years later, on 28 March 2017, The Hindu ran another report concerning illegal beach sand mining [4]: "455,245 tonnes of beach minerals found. As many as 30 godowns containing beach sand have been sealed in Thoothukudi district, according to Collector M. Ravikumar. 15 locations searched. Addressing journalists here on Monday, he said that Taluk-level officials had conducted searches at 15 locations as part of a crackdown that began last week. Vast quantities of minerals mined from beach sand such as garnet, ilmenite, zircon and rutile were found stocked in these godowns. During the search operation, the squads found a total of 455,245 tonnes of beach minerals and 312,314 tonnes of raw beach sand. The searches were initiated by the district administration in the wake of the suspension of Assistant Director of Mines Krishnamohan over allegations that he had produced fake documents to facilitate the illegal export of beach minerals belonging to V.V. Mineral, a leading firm. The officials would now probe whether the mined beach minerals stocked in the sealed godowns were legally sourced, the Collector said. Beach sand mining was banned by the State government in August 2013." In conclusion, we see here a struggle from fishermen and (some) state officers against local firms which, apparently illegally, engage in large scale sand mining for industrial minerals. The awareness of the facts has escalated in 2017, to some extent due to Sadhya Ravishankar's series of articles in The Wire.  By the end of 2016 reliable press sources (The Hindu and others) had reported that official probes acknowledged that V.V. Minerals "had illegally transported 9.65 lakh tonnes of heavy minerals during 2014-15 and 2015-16, well after the ban on beach sand mining and issuances of transport permits for raw sand and minerals had come into force in September 2013".[6].

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Basic Data
Name of conflict:Beach sand mining for ilmenite, garnet and other minerals in Tamil Nadu, India
Country:India
State or province:Tamil Nadu
Location of conflict:Tuticorin / Thoothukudi
Accuracy of locationHIGH (Local level)
Source of Conflict
Type of conflict. 1st level:Mineral Ores and Building Materials Extraction
Type of conflict. 2nd level:Wetlands and coastal zone management
Tailings from mines
Specific commodities:Titanium ores
Ilmenite, Garnet, Zircon, Rutile, Monazite.
Sand, gravel
Project Details and Actors
Project details

The geological and economic context for this conflicts is well described by in these terms: "India, bestowed with a coastline of over 6000 km, hosts some of the largest and richest coastline placers. Our beach sand deposits and dunes contain heavy minerals like ilmenite, rutile, garnet, monazite, zircon, and sillimanite... Ilmenite-rich major beach and dune sand deposits occur in the

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Type of populationSemi-urban
Start of the conflict:2013
Company names or state enterprises:V V Mineral from India
Beach Minerals Producers Association from India
Relevant government actors:National Green Tribunal
Government of Tamil Nadu
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available:-Centre for Science and Environment (Delhi), editor of Down to Earth.
-Mongabay (Mongabay is a non-profit provider of conservation and environmental science news).
Conflict & Mobilization
IntensityMEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization)
Groups mobilizing:Local ejos
Local government/political parties
Local scientists/professionals
Journalists. "District Collectors" (government officers).
Fisher people
Forms of mobilization:Creation of alternative reports/knowledge
Development of a network/collective action
Involvement of national and international NGOs
Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism
Media based activism/alternative media
Official complaint letters and petitions
Public campaigns
Impacts
Environmental ImpactsVisible: Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Large-scale disturbance of hydro and geological systems, Other Environmental impacts, Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Soil contamination, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Waste overflow
Potential: Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Mine tailing spills, Floods (river, coastal, mudflow)
Other Environmental impactsDestruction of dunes, beaches.
Health ImpactsPotential: Exposure to unknown or uncertain complex risks (radiation, etc…)
Socio-economical ImpactsVisible: Other socio-economic impacts, Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Loss of livelihood, Specific impacts on women, Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place
Potential: Increase in violence and crime, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Violations of human rights
Other socio-economic impactsImpacts on fisheries
Outcome
Project StatusIn operation
Conflict outcome / response:Corruption
Court decision (undecided)
Alleged harrassment of journalists.
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?:No
Briefly explain:Despite a ban in 2013, beach sand mining for minerals has been going on in this part of Tamil Nadu.
Sources & Materials
References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

[7] Rajendran, S. (2013). Illegal Mining, Impatient Mafia and Ill-treated Administrators. Economic and Political Weekly Vol. XLVIII No. 49 pp 16-17
[click to view]

[8] CRITICAL REVIEW OF BEACH SAND MINING IN INDIA WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CHHATRAPUR SAND COMPLEX (OSCOM) IN ODISHA-A CASE STUDY. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE of BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN MINING ENGINEERING by SIBA PRASAD PANIGRAHI. NIT Rourkela 769008.
[click to view]

[1]Somak Goshal, Huffington Post, 17/3/17
[click to view]

[2] Titanium or Water? Trouble brews in Southern India, by Nityanand Jayaraman, Special to CorpWatch. October 24th, 2007
[click to view]

[3] Beachside troubles, by Anupam Chakravartty, Down to Earth, 28 February 2014
[click to view]

[4] The Hindu, 30 beach mineral godowns sealed, Staff Reporter

THOOTHUKUDI March 28, 2017
[click to view]

[5] Raids on Tuticorin mining sites reveal large-scale violations, 8 August 2013, The Hindu
[click to view]

[6]The Hindu, V.V. Minerals operated in violation of ban: Panel, by

T. Ramakrishnan, Chennai, Nov. 25, 2016
[click to view]

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

"Battling India’s Sand Barons. 11 May 2016 / Sibi Arasu. Environmental activist S. Mugilan confronts the sand-mining mafia in India’s Tamil Nadu state, even as other activists lose their lives attempting to save the state’s natural resources." A report on raw sand, gravel, granite mining in Tamil Nadu for the building industry, including also some remarks on beach sand mining for minerals.
[click to view]

Other comments: Sandhya Ravissankar is a Chennai-based journalist investigating illegal beach sand mining for years. Here the links to some articles by her in The Wire. 2017.
a) The Countdown Begins For Tamil Nadu’s Beach Sand Mining Cartel 27/01/2017 , https://thewire.in/102506/countdown-begins-tamil-nadus-beach-sand-mining-cartel/
b) Thirty Years of Official Collusion Helped Tamil Nadu’s Beach Miners Break the Law
29/01/2017
https://thewire.in/103305/30-years-of-governments-colluding-with-miners-have-destroyed-tamil-nadus-beaches/
c) How India’s Largest Beach Sand Mineral Exporter Got to Where He Is
30/01/2017, https://thewire.in/103721/vaikundarajan-beach-sand-mining/
d) In Tamil Nadu, Sixteen Years Of Sand Mining Loot Officially Termed ‘Illegal’. 20/02/2017, https://thewire.in/110405/tamil-nadu-sand-mining/
Meta information
Contributor:JMA
Last update18/08/2019
Conflict ID:2791
Comments
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