Sand miners summoned over no-response

EVEN as beach sand mineral (BSM) mining barons remain tight-lipped over the show-cause notices that they were served to recover a total of 5,035.42 crore of losses incurred by the government exchequer, the Tamil Nadu government has called on them to appear in person before the collectors of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari districts.

- GODSON WISELY DASS

The show-cause notices follows the conclusion of an investigation into the illegal mining of BSM, 10 years after it was banned in 2013. The state government has asked all BSM miners, who held 64 mining leases in 2014, for an explanation before its recovery of 5,035.42 crore on two sets of notices: One for the pre-ban period of 2000 to 2013, and the second for the post-ban period i.e, from 2013 to 2016. The parties have to respond to the notices within 15 days.