The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday suo motu impleaded the Principal Secretaries to the Revenue and Industries Departments in a public interest litigation petition filed against illegal sand quarrying in Sivaganga district.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam directed the respondents to file status reports on the nature and duties of the district level monitoring task force and what action can be taken against the authorities concerned for failing to act against the illegal sand quarrying.
The court was hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by U. Seetha of Thirupuvanam in Sivaganga district who complained of illegal extraction of sand in the region.
During the course of the hearing, the State informed the court that illegal sand quarrying had taken place in the region beyond the permissible limit and penalty was also imposed on those indulging in the illegal sand quarrying.
