Anti-Corruption Movement, Coimbatore, flags ‘illegal’ mining activities, seeks inquiry by retired High Court Judge

Flagging ‘illegal’ mining activities, Anti-Corruption Movement, Coimbatore, has demanded to constitute an Inquiry Commission headed by a retired High Court Judge to determine the corruption and recommend appropriate action against government officials complicit in the crime.

Officials who had permitted illegal mining activities must be identified for stringent action, and fines must be imposed on the quarry operators who had indulged in illegal mining activities transparently, secretary of the Anti-Corruption Movement N.K. Velu said.

The Inquiry Commission must study the contamination caused to groundwater in the surroundings of the mines, and the impact it has caused to houses, public roads, water bodies, and standing crops in the surroundings.

The study should also determine the impact of the use of explosives for quarrying on livestock, birds, humans, and plants.

Officials complicit in the crime must be punished under Section 311(2)(b) with dismissal or reduction in rank, and the ill-earned properties must be confiscated.

In a representation to the Chief Secretary, Mr. Velu, formerly Additional Superintendent of Police, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, sought to know why the Director of Department of Geology and Mining had not complied with the Government Order No. 73, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, to the petition submitted by the Movement on January 9, 2026.

The order of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department states that an acknowledgement must be issued within three days of the receipt of grievance petitions, and that it should be redressed within a maximum period of one month.

Citizens approaching government departments with their grievance petitions must be informed of the progress in redressing the same. In case, for some reason, additional time is required for its finalisation, the petitioner must be informed in writing of the extended period of time for its finalisation, the government order said.

The petition submitted during January highlighted the “illegalities” in the form of presence of an unauthorised checkpost at Govindanaickanur.

The petition urged the Director of Geology and Mines to refuse permission for mining on a 10-acre area in Sokkanur village in Kinathukadavu Taluk.

The proposed site for quarrying was close to a public road and irrigation canal. Wells will dry up if it is permitted, and livelihood of farmers will be affected, the petition said.