No country for honest people? Now, IAS officer shifted in Tamil Nadu

, Aug 7: Whether it is North or South India, the tale is the same everywhere. After

was suspended in Uttar Pradesh for taking on the sand mafia, Ashish Kumar, a district collector in Tuticorin in

, was shifted on Tuesday for ordering a raid on sand mines.

A 2005-batch IAS officer, Kumar has been shifted to a relatively lesser post of deputy secretary in department of social welfare and nutritious meal programme in Chennai.

Kumar was given the transfer orders soon after the raids at VV Mineral in his area ended. The raid took place after complaints were lodged against illegal mining in Vaippar and Vembar villages of Vilathikulam taluk in Tuticorin and officials confirmed about massive violations of law. According to Kumar, the mining company had a lease to undertake activities on four hectares near the beach but were excavating from over 20 hectares of government land.

Kumar had served as the district collector of Kanyakumari for just 45 days and took over as the Tuticorin collector. The latest has been the second major crackdown on illegal sand mining in Tuticorin. Three months ago, district officials raided mines of another firm called Beach Minerals Company.

Kumar is not the first bureaucrat to have faced such consequences in Tamil Nadu in recent times. Lat year, the additional superintendent of police of Tirupathur, G Dharmaraj, was similarly transferred to Nilgiris district after he took on the sand miners in Vellore district.

Illegal sand mining is rampant along the river banks in the southern state abnd it has continued despite strict orders given by the court. Illegal sand mining has an adverse effect on groundwater level and cultivable land but how many are lending ears to that?

OneIndia News