In Alappuzha and Kollam districts, indiscriminate mineral-sand mining continues unabated with the support of political parties of all hues.
The mineral sand rich shores of Alapad in Kollam. (KA Shaji/South First)
A resigned sense of lethargy is now a constant at Thottappally, a coastal village in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. The villagers have recently completed 800 days of intense agitation against indiscriminate mineral sand mining.
Their agitation did not grab the state’s attention though the picturesque village is part of Kerala’s nostalgic past. Purakkad, immortalised by the 1965 evergreen movie Chemeen is its neighbour, and communism, too, had found the land fertile for its growth.
To the village’s east, beyond the spillway on the national highway, lies the vast, lush-green expanse of paddy fields of Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, and also its Holland — much of the region is below sea level.
The villagers, mostly fishermen, have realised the soil under their feet is being mined away with scant regard for them. Indiscriminate mining of mineral beach sand from the Thottappally Pozhi — or river mouth — and the local harbour has been destroying the coastline, houses, and the livelihood of villagers.
Their fight is for survival and to safeguard the environment. Citing expert opinions, the villagers pointed out that mineral-sand mining from the estuary has led to large-scale intrusion of the salty seawater into the backwaters of Kuttanad, destroying paddy cultivation in the low-lying areas.
The recent allegation against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena T has shocked the villagers.
It has been alleged that Aluva-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) had made “illegal payments” to the tune of ₹1.72 crore to Veena’s information technology firm, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited.
The payment is deemed illegal since Exalogic had not provided any software service to CMRL.
The CMRL case came up before the Interim Board for Settlement under the Central Board of Taxes after the firm and its managing director SN Sasidharan Kartha moved a settlement application after an Income-Tax inspection in 2019, which unearthed the alleged illegal money transactions.
Bhadran Bhaskaran, a retired tahsildar who emerged as the face of the Karimanal Ghanana Virudha Ekopana Samiti (Anti-Mineral Black Sand Mining Coordination Committee), looked disenchanted.
The Thottappally coast in Alapuzha, where indscriminate sand mining is active. (KA Shaji/South First)
“We have now realised that our agitations are not taking us anywhere. If the information leaked from the Income-Tax Department is to be believed, the chief minister and his daughter are getting monthly illegal payments from a private player in mineral sand mining and segregation,” Bhaskaran said.
“Most Opposition leaders in the state are also on the list. Then how we can expect justice,” he wondered. The committee has been engaged in a relay satyagraha against the black sand mining that is almost wiping out the coastal village from the map of Kerala.
Talking to South First, committee leader S Suresh Kumar said that 456 houses in the area have been destroyed due to coastal erosion ever since the mineral sand mining began after the 2018 floods.
Kerala witnessed the most savage floods in recent history that killed more than 480 people in August 2018.
“All political parties in Kerala are receiving a monthly payments from mineral-sand mining and separation firms. It is why they are allowing single-point dredging at Thottappally Pozhi, resulting in the intrusion of seawater into the backwaters, causing enormous destruction to paddy cultivation in large tracts,” he said.
“Despite knowing well about the environmental hazards, the district authorities have recently deployed dredgers at the Pozhi to facilitate deep mining,” Kumar added.
The fishermen are in support of removing sand annually from the estuary to allow the free flow of floodwaters into the sea. Earlier, such removed sand was deposited in other parts of the coast to facilitate the sea to redeposit it, indirectly supporting fishers and farmers.
Paddy fields in Kuttanad are under the threat of saline water intrusion. (KA Shaji/South First)
The governmental agencies are now mining the mineral sand and transporting it to either Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd in Chavara or Indian Rare Earths Ltd in Kollam.
According to the rules, only public sector companies can mine and transport mineral sand deposited on the southern coasts of Kerala. No private party is allowed to mine or transport the sand.
“If that is the law, how did the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited get the raw materials,” Bhaskaran asked.
The CMRL is now facing charges of making illegal payments to the chief minister, his daughter, politicians of all hues, police officials, pollution control board officials and a section of media houses.
“The answer is simple. The CMRL has floated a joint venture with the public sector Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). The private company is now sourcing raw materials, including mineral sand, from public-sector extraction companies. It is possible only with the help of all major political parties,” Kochi-based environmentalist Purushan Eloor said.
He felt that the Income-Tax expose shed light on not only the dirty financial transactions but also the tacit support extended by political parties to indiscriminate mining that has been ruining the coastal areas of Thottappally, Thrikkunnapuzha, Arattuvazhi, Alappad, Chavara, Kayamkulam and Kollam.
The revelations sent a rude shock to the coastal communities of Kollam and Alappuzha districts in South Kerala. The coastal population in these two districts has been protesting against the rampant mineral sand mining for the past several years.
Alapad beach in Kollam. (KA Shaji/South First)
Ironically, several politicians on the CMRL’s beneficiary list have taken part in the agitations against illegal and indiscriminate mineral sand mining.
The coastal communities have now realised the reason for politicians cold-shouldering their agitations. They are demanding a judicial or CBI probe into the politician-mining lobby nexus.
“What has emerged is just the tip of the iceberg. All along the coast, politicians sold out the coastal communities and their existence to private monopolies. We are powerless to ensure a CBI or judicial probe into the deep-rooted unholy nexus,” Charles George, a state-level leader of fish workers, lamented to South First.
In every village on Kerala’s southwestern coast, people speak of the politician’s betrayal loud and clear.
At Thottappilly, sand mining was initiated on the pretext of developing a spillway for managing floods in the neighbouring Kuttanad. But mining has now facilitated seawater to intrude into paddy fields and smuggling of truckloads of mineral-rich sand.
Alapad panchayat in Kollam is an example. Spread over 90 square km in 1955, it has shrunk to hardly nine square km now due to indiscriminate mining.
Initially, the Congress, BJP and CPI(M) were with the agitating coastal communities. But later, they disappeared — so did the media focus. The agitations against mineral-sand mining in Kollam and Alappuzha coastal areas began more than a decade ago.
Though public-sector undertakings Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, and Indian Rare Earths Limited are mainly engaged in the mining, it is alleged that private firm lobbies are also involved in the business.
“Mineral sand is a natural resource, and hence it has to be utilised properly instead of allowing a few private lobbies to exploit it,” P Sreekumar, an activist in Alapad, told South First.
A journey through the coastal roads of Kollam and Alappuzha reveals the scars of indiscriminate mining: Abandoned houses, temples, schools and seawater-inundated villages. Water in ponds has turned red, and wilted mangroves stand testimony to man’s greed.
The coast in Thottappally where mining is thriving. (KA Shaji/South First)
Extensive mineral beach sand mining in these regions began in the 1960s. The abandoned buildings indicate how organised lobbies cheated the poor coastal communities.
In Panmana, where thousands of fishermen once lived, only a mound of sand and an abandoned temple remain. At Alapad, people said more than 6,000 fish-worker families left due to massive beach erosion, drinking water scarcity and inadequate availability of fish.
The presence of the minerals ilmenite, rutile, zircon, monazite, leucoxene (brown ilmenite), sillimanite, and garnet in the coastal dunes of Kollam was discovered in the 1920s, and the mining started on a large scale in the 1960s.
The Indian Rare Earths Limited and Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited are extensively mining the area despite people’s protests. Since the companies have clearances from the state government departments concerned and favourable orders from the High Court of Kerala, the voices of dissent are silenced.
The government has no data on people evicted without providing compensation for their loss. No serious study has been made into the polluted drinking water sources.
Monazite and ilmenite are the main extracts from the mining. The full processing of these minerals doesn’t happen in India. The rutile minerals are exported, and foreign companies reap huge profits.
“So far, it was hearsay that corporations will hush up environmental concerns by bribing politicians, authorities and the media. An Income-Tax Board Settlement Order has confirmed the rumours, Bhaskaran said.
The coastline has receded, leading to the loss of agricultural land and fishing grounds. The villagers of Alapad are now facing an uncertain future as their village is slowly disappearing.
Meanwhile, environmental activist Sridhar Radhakrishnan said that CMRL has always been a “rogue company” with a legacy of polluting the Periyar river and the public lands in Edayar with hazardous waste and wastewater.
“The local community’s struggle against pollution has never found any sympathisers among politicians from any party over the decades. We even saw the public and concerned citizens in Eloor and Edayar being harassed, threatened, arrested, and dragged to courts on false accusations,” Radhakrishnan spoke about the wages of protecting the environment.
“It is evident that such companies have bought the politicians and trade union leaderships across parties,” he told South First.
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