Illicit quarrying of thorium-rich sand

Illicit quarrying of thorium-rich sand Source: VSK- CHENNAI Date: 9/8/2012 6:27:51 PM CHENNAI, September 8, 2012 : The Uvari police have registered a case on lifting of “thorium-rich sand” from the land belonging to Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment. Police said the “thorium-rich sand” from 20 acre land around Kaari Sastha Temple at Kundal under the Uvari police station limits had been lifted by some unidentified persons. After taking the mineral-rich sand from about 10 acres of land, owned by Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment, the sand miners filled-up the 30-feet-deep pits with ordinary beach sand, triggering suspicion that the quarried sand might have contained valuable minerals. Based on the complaint from Inspector, HR and CE, K. Gomathi, under whose jurisdiction the temple falls, the Uvari police have registered case against K. Meenakshisundaram, trustee of the temple, who allegedly gave permission for sand quarrying in the HR and CE land. Meanwhile, the HR and CE officials, led by Joint Commissioner S. Anbumani, visited the spot on Wednesday and the land was surveyed by surveyor Natarajan to exactly mark the boundaries of the land being owned by Department of HR and CE. Moreover, officials from Department of Mines have been informed about the illicit quarrying of sand from the HR and CE land. “We’ve requested the Department of Mines to tell us about the presence of minerals, if any, in the sand lifted by the illicit sand miners so that we can arrive at the actual loss to the government,” said a HR and CE official. ... ...