Resentment growing in Kerala over offshore sand mining
2 months ago

Resentment growing in Kerala over offshore sand mining

New Indian Express  

KOCHI: Amid allegations of opening up the fisheries sector to corporates, the Union government’s move to allow offshore mining of construction sand has triggered resentment in Kerala. The Centre decided to conduct offshore mineral exploration based on a study by the Geological Survey of India which reported 745 million tonnes of sand deposits suitable for construction activities in Kerala’s coastal sea. The Centre has decided to auction sand blocks for offshore mining in five sectors: Ponnani, Chavakkad, Alappuzha, Kollam North, and Kollam South. The decision to conduct sand mining in the Kollam sector has shocked the fishers as the region is a traditional fishing ground.

Kerala Sand Kollam  mining  resentment  sand  kollam  trawling  fisheries  huge  area  growing  offshore  marine  kerala

History of this topic

Offshore mining: Ministry of Mines assures EIA release and stakeholder consultations
6 days, 15 hours ago

Offshore mining: Ministry of Mines assures EIA release and stakeholder consultations

The Hindu  

The offshore mining projectoff the Kerala coasts will begin only after releasing a full environmental impact assessment and conducting transparent, inclusive consultations with affected communities, an official spokesperson of the Ministry of Mines told The Hindu. Main issue raised When bids were invited to auction offshore mineral blocks, the main issue raised by fishers and marine scientists was that the …

Kerala Assembly passes resolution against Centre’s decision to permit offshore mining
3 weeks ago

Kerala Assembly passes resolution against Centre’s decision to permit offshore mining

The Hindu  

The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution, opposing the Central government’s plans to permit offshore mining along the Kerala coast. The resolution, presented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, expressed grave concerns over the amendments to the Offshore Areas Mineral Act, 2002, which now allow private participation in deep-sea mineral exploration and mining. Mr. Vijayan also highlighted the threats …

Big sea snafu brewing in Kerala
3 weeks, 2 days ago

Big sea snafu brewing in Kerala

India Today  

The December 2004 tsunami took the lives of 171 people in Kerala, with one panchayat, Alappad in Kollam district, taking the brunt of it—132 lives lost in a single day. Incidentally, ‘Kollam Parappu’ or ‘Quilon Bank’ is a unique deep-sea fishing hub between Kollam and Alappuzha which has been the subject of various studies by the Kerala University of Fisheries …

The Hindu’s State of Play on Kerala: A battle between fishing and mining
3 weeks, 2 days ago

The Hindu’s State of Play on Kerala: A battle between fishing and mining

The Hindu  

The coastal communities in Kerala are currently caught in a wave of unrest following the Centre’s plans for offshore mining, which they believe will ravage the fragile marine ecosystem and bring an end to their traditional way of life. Surveys conducted by the Geological Survey of India revealed 1,53,996 million tonnes of lime mud within the Exclusive Economic Zone off …

Offshore sand-mining move will wreak havoc on marine ecosystem: Satheesan
3 weeks, 6 days ago

Offshore sand-mining move will wreak havoc on marine ecosystem: Satheesan

The Hindu  

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday slammed the Union government’s plans for offshore sand-mining off Kollam, asserting that it would wreak havoc on the marine ecosystem, destroy the region’s fisheries economy and accelerate erosion along the Kerala coast. Mr. Satheesan was inaugurating a ‘coastal march’ taken out by the Revolutionary Socialist Party from Vizhinjam demanding immediate roll-back of …

State-level coastal convention against sea mining on February 17
1 month, 1 week ago

State-level coastal convention against sea mining on February 17

The Hindu  

The Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee, a joint front of various trade unions in the fisheries sector, will organise a State-level coastal convention in Kollam on February 17 to call for a strike demanding the rollback of Union government’s sea mining project. The decision to start mining in Kollam Parappu, a fishing field teeming with commercially valuable seafood species, including king …

Kerala fishers to protest at sea on February 8 against offshore mining off State’s coast
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Kerala fishers to protest at sea on February 8 against offshore mining off State’s coast

The Hindu  

While protests against sea sand mining are gaining momentum in the State, around 300 traditional fishing crafts and 30 trawlers will converge off the Kollam coast on February 8 to mark fishing community’s protest against the decision. ‘Kadal Samrakshana Sringhala’, a campaign of Matysathozhilali Federation, will hold a protest meeting at sea demanding the rollback of the project as concerns …

K.C. Venugopal urges Centre to roll back offshore sand mining plan
1 month, 3 weeks ago

K.C. Venugopal urges Centre to roll back offshore sand mining plan

The Hindu  

All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal, MP has urged the Centre to revoke its decision to conduct offshore sand mining along the Kerala coast. In a letter sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader noted that the Union government’s move to auction sand blocks for offshore mining in five sectors — Kollam South, Kollam North, Alappuzha, …

Coastal hartal in Kerala on February 27
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Coastal hartal in Kerala on February 27

The Hindu  

The Matsya Thozhilali Coordination Committee, representing various fisher unions, has called for a hartal on Kerala’s coastline on February 27 in protest against the Union government’s decision to conduct offshore mining off the Kerala coast. The coordination committee said that offshore mining would spell doom for the fisheries sector and the marine ecosystem. The leaders said that a protest declaration …

Green Kerala Movement opposes Central government’s coastal sand mining plans
2 months, 1 week ago

Green Kerala Movement opposes Central government’s coastal sand mining plans

The Hindu  

The Green Kerala Movement has strongly condemned the Central government’s initiative to mine 745 million tonnes of sand from Kerala’s coast without conducting an environmental or social impact study. The decision follows a Geological Survey of India study that identified significant offshore sand deposits in five key areas: Ponnani, Chavakkad, Alappuzha, Kollam South, and Kollam North. The Green Kerala Movement …

Kerala opposes Union govt’s move to carry out offshore sand mining
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Kerala opposes Union govt’s move to carry out offshore sand mining

New Indian Express  

KOCHI: Kerala has expressed opposition to the Union government’s move to carry out sand mining off the state’s coast. The state government is of the view that the Centre is trying to carry out offshore sand mining without considering the state’s interests and environmental concerns. The Centre’s move came after a study conducted by the central agency Geological Survey of …

Coastline in Crisis | The perils facing the shoreline
1 year, 4 months ago

Coastline in Crisis | The perils facing the shoreline

Hindustan Times  

Mumbai finds itself enmeshed in a battle with a concealed enemy that increases its vulnerability to climate change and imperils its structural and environmental stability. “Rampant sand mining poses a significant threat for coastal cities,” said Anjal Prakash, clinical associate professor and research director at the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business. “The Mumbai region …

NGT Pulls up Kerala Pollution Control Board Over Sand Mining in Coastal Village of Kollam District
4 years, 6 months ago

NGT Pulls up Kerala Pollution Control Board Over Sand Mining in Coastal Village of Kollam District

News 18  

The National Green Tribunal has rapped Kerala State Pollution Control Board over its "incompetence" to decide environmental impact of sand mining in a coastal village in Kollam district. The tribunal had earlier sought a report from the Kollam district administration after taking note of a news report about a 17-year-old girl's viral video on environmental impact of sand mining activity …

Kerala: Quarry ban puts coasts in danger
7 years ago

Kerala: Quarry ban puts coasts in danger

Deccan Chronicle  

KOLLAM: The ban on quarrying in the district has adversely affected the construction of breakwaters and protection walls putting the lives of coastal people at risk. An expert team from Chennai IIT had recommended that small breakwaters having a length of 35 metres into the sea with a gap of 100 metres between them could prevent sea wrath. It was …

Kerala to issue roadmap on beach sand-mining: CM
10 years, 3 months ago

Kerala to issue roadmap on beach sand-mining: CM

India TV News  

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government will soon issue a roadmap on what needs to be done after the high court overturned its decision to bar private sector from mining mineral beach sands in the state, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Sunday. His comments came after a division bench of the Kerala High Court, comprising Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice …

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