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October 14, 2023 01:51 pm | Updated October 15, 2023 10:42 am IST – CHENNAI
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The ED searched a sand sales depot in Kandaneri in Vellore district last month, as part of its investigation into illegal sand mining in T.N. | Photo Credit: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY
Even as the Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of serious irregularities in the mining and sale of river sand in Tamil Nadu, a top official in the Water Resources Department has urged senior engineers of the Sand Mining & Monitoring Division to clean up the “internal mess” and disclose every inch of illegal sand mining sites to the central investigating agency.
In a letter sent to executive engineers and assistant executive engineers in Chennai, Villupuram, Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Madurai on Thursday, October 12, 2023, the WRD Engineer-in-Chief & Chief Engineer General, A. Muthaiya said: “This is the time of urgency where we have to clean our internal mess in our organisation and disclose every inch of illegal mining sites to the Directorate of Enforcement, the agency investigating this offence of money laundering.”
Mr. Muthaiya called for Income Tax returns of the department’s officials and their family members for the last three financial years and the list of properties owned by them, with their current market value. The officials were directed to send their reply by Friday night.
“As you are aware that illegal and rampant sand mining is happening across the State of Tamil Nadu, where in, I have also received multiple complaints against various illicit quarryies…,” he said in the letter.
The letter also stated that Mr Muthaiya had written to the Collectors of 13 districts to provide details of cases registered in their respective districts on complaints of illegal sand mining. He has also called for a list of contractors of 23 quarries, along with the invoices raised by them, bank details etc.
The Engineer-in-Chief has also directed the department’s engineers to go out and find illegal mining sites where excessive sand mining has taken place, in their respective jurisdictions.
“I understand that there will be apprehension in your minds as to how to disclose the problems and instances of corruption in your own respective areas, but it has to be understood that this is a situation of urgency and importance, where we all have to come out with disclosing our internal dirt outside,” Mr Muthaiya said in the letter.
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mining / Tamil Nadu / corruption & bribery / economic offence/ tax evasion
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