Dredging in Kabani halted

Members of the expert team visiting the banks of the Kabini river at Panamaram in Wayanad district on Monday.

A five-member expert team that visited the areas where rampant sand mining was reported from the banks of the Kabani river, a major tributary of the Cauvery river, temporarily banned dredging activities on the river. Environmental activists had alleged that the Panamaram grama panchayat was carrying out sand mining in the river using 25 ferries under the guise of an order of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to remove sand and debris that had accumulated in the riverbed to avoid flooding during the monsoon. The team, led by K. Ajeesh, Deputy Collector, DDMA, visited five sites in Panamaram grama panchayat limits on Monday on the direction of Wayanad District Collector Adeela Abdulla, and ordered a halt to all dredging activities.