All At Sea

March 30, 1997

THE WEEK

All At Sea
Fishermen of Tirunelveli fear that garner mining will destroy their coast

OUT at sea they shout at the top of their voices so that the elements don't drown their conversation. On terra firm, the fishermen of the coastal villages of the Tirunelveli-Kattabomman district of Tamil Nadu are finding it harder to make themselves heard. All the noise they are making has been falling on deaf ears. The fishermen from a dozen villages who number about a lakh and a half are agitated about the 'indiscriminate' garnet sand mining along the coast. They fear that it will lead to soil erosion and shrinkage of the beach. The issue has taken a nasty turn with mass protests against mining and escalating violence. The fishermen from a dozen villages who number about a lakh and a half are agitated about the 'indiscriminate' garnet sand mining along the coast. They fear that it will lead to soil erosion and shrinkage of the beach. The issue has taken a nasty turn with mass protests against mining and escalating violence.

Garner sand is mainly used as an abrasive for its hardness. They are found in association with rare earth minerals like monazite, zircon, rutile, etc. Prospecting for these minerals is done by the atomic minerals division of the atomic energy department (AED), which is setting up a plant at Koodamkulam in Tirunelveli. India has garnet deposits of about 36 million tonnes, of which about 8 million tonnes, of which about 8 million tonnes is on the Tamil Nadu coast. Garnet deposits are found all along the Tamil Nadu coast from Thanjavur Kanyakumari, though the concentration is greater along the Chidambarana-Tirunelveli coasts. This and the other minerals which are present in rock form in the eastern ghats, are transported by the rivers to the sea. Wind and waves deposits it on the coast.

In the last five years the abrasives industry has grown tremendously, leading to a phenomenal demand for garnet sand. Private parties managed to get land on lease from the atomic energy department, resulting in what an official source described as"uncontrolled mining and a flagrant disregard for rules". Thus, V.V. Minerals, owned by Vaikuntaraj, has a lease on 123 acres of prime coastal sand. Indian Ocean Garnet Sand Co. Pvt. Ltd., owned by T Manickam, has about 18 acres, and Indian Garnet Sand, owned by Union minister Dhanushkody Athithan's wife, has a right to 42 acres.

The granting of mining licences is subject to several restrictions. The Coastal Zone Regulation Act stipulates that no mining work should be carried out within 500m of the high tide line. Not more than a specified number of people may be employed for mining work, which may not go on for more than 90 days in a year. Further, the sand may not be dug, it has to be scooped out without using a spade and only to a depth of 5 cm.

All these restrictions are for protecting the coastline from man-aided erosion and exceptions may be made only in the case of rare minerals like monazite. But then it is an open secret that most of the rules are observed in the breach by the miners. The deputy tahsildar (mines) is supposed to visit the site and ensure that there is no opposition from the locals. The procedure is not followed, asserts Father Udhayan, assistant parish priest at Kootapuzhy village.

The fishermen, most of them Roman Catholics, are agitated bout all this. Said Sr. Gleva, who works among the fishermen in Kootapuzhy village: "When the mining is done on the coast in Panchal, which is about 3 km from here, it affects our shores. The sand here is drawn away." Poovam, from the same village, said : "Earlier the sea was at least a quarter of kilometre away. It is only in the last two years that we have seen such drastic changes. Our access to the sea has also been reduced."

According to the fisherfolk, with the shrinking to the beach there is not enough space to keep their catamarans or to dry fishing nets. During high tide the waves lift the catamarans and dash them against their houses. The rocks have started showing where they used to be covered by sand. Villages like Kootapuzhy, Perumanal, Uvari, panchal, Periathazhai and Kooduthazkai are all threatened by erosion.

The fishermen say that certain varieties of fish have disappeared along with the red and black sands which are essential for their breeding, "Two years ago we used to get a daily catch worth Rs 100," said a fisherman." Now we don't eve make Rs 20." Another result of erosion has been that the drinking water in the interior villages is gradually turning saline. So the fishermen now have to depend on either tap water or on those who transport water all the way from kanyakumari and sell it for a few rupees per pot.

The fisherfolk complained that after they intensified the struggle, Vaikuntaraj hired goondas to keep them at bay. Said Father Udhayan: "He paid them Rs 3,000 each to guard his quarry sites. Whenever the fishermen go anywhere near the mining spots, the goondas threaten them." He also alleged that a number of false cases have been foisted on the innocent fishermen.

Last December the fisherfolk launched a 'road roko' to bring the problem to the administration's attention. They hijacked three buses and took them to the Perumanal village; their demands included the release of a fisherman who was arrested on 'trumped-up charges' and the temporary halting of quarrying activities. "The next day the police superintendent came and lathi-charged us. In the melee around 150 people were hurt", said Father Rayen, the assistant parish priest at Uvari village, who still bears the scars of that assault. Women were not spared and many like Kausalee jumped into the sea to escape bullets.

Father Bruno, the parish priest at Perumanal village, said that Vaikuntaraj's men also attacked a team from the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University which was trying to find out the effects of mining on the environment.

The problem also has some communal ramifications. While the fishermen are Christians, the mining companies are owned by Hindu Nadars. "There is an attempt by the industrialists to spread the word that 'Christian swamis' are creating trouble for Hindus," said Father Udhayan. "But we are sure that people won't be taken in by such rhetoric." It is not surprising if industrialists use rough tactics to protect their interest, for the stakes involved are very high. Garnet sand can fetch between $45 and $100 a tonne in the foreign market. Vaikuntaran, for instance, exports 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes a year. But Vaikuntaraj claims that his 'jealous' competitors are behind the fishermen's uprising.

The pistol-toting industrialist claimed that he had never broken any rule. "I have permission to employ 100 people on the site," he said. "And I certainly do not have any checkpoints manned by 'goondas'. All the trouble is instigated by the Christian swamis who are paid money by my rivals." Vaikuntaraj, who is the biggest producers of garnet sand in India, admits that he himself bribed certain officials to speed up the process of getting licences.

But geologists and environmentalists would have none of Vaikuntaraj's claims. They are also unhappy with the government's failure to conduct periodic reviews of the quarrying activities. They point out that not just garnet but other precious minerals are also recovered by the miners. Though they are expected to hand them over the AED because of the radioactive nature of the sand, they seldom do so. A senior geologist in the mines department alleged that even monazite and other minerals are being exported. If true, this has dangerous implications. Another worrisome fact is that leases have been granted on unsurveyed land where there is no benchmark to measure the 500-metre limit.

Vaikuntaraj claimed that he had every right to mine garnet within 500 metres of the high tide line as it is a rare mineral. But the geologist pointed out that garnet is only a major mineral and therefore nobody can claim immunity from the 500-metre rule. He argues that private parties should not have been given quarrying rights. And, having done so, the government should at least have set up a monitoring system. The last to get quarrying rights is Trans-World, partly owned by a Canadian firm. "The government should never have allowed this company to do mining," said the geologist. "Instead, it could have got the knowhow from Canada."

The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) found the government guilty of giving leases without assessing whether it would result in soil erosion and increase the salinity of drinking water. The report also found V.V Minerals guilty of "employing money power and hired goondas" and of "engineering social tensions between village communities". Said Gabriela Dietrich, state representative of the National Alliance for People's Movement (NAPM): "There are loopholes in the CZR Act which are being exploited by ruinous to the coastal people. The government should immediately arrange for an impact assessment study."

The Tirunelveli collector seems to be taking such views very seriously. He has recommended an immediate ban on mining in the areas and suggested a detailed study by scientists on the threats posed by garnet mining. As for the fishermen, they seem to be determined to do more than raise their voices if their fears are not set at rest.

E.VIJAYALAKSHMI in Tirunelveli and Madurai