EPS slams permission for Kerala firm’s sand mining

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday condemned the DMK government for allowing Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML) to advance preparatory work for mining beach sand.

In a statement, he said that preparatory work for mining beach sand minerals across 185 acres in the Thoothukudi–Tirunelveli region of Tamil Nadu was under way. According to reports, officials from KMML had already conducted tests, feasibility studies and submitted proposals to the Tamil Nadu government, raising serious questions about how the administration permitted a neighbouring State’s company to reach this stage without public knowledge or stakeholder consultation, he said.

Palaniswami sharply criticised the DMK for enabling what he described as an attempt to exploit Tamil Nadu’s resources under the guise of inter-state cooperation. “Not a single grain of Tamil Nadu’s soil should be bartered away. Tamil Nadu’s natural resources are for Tamil Nadu alone,” he said.

Referring to a recent meeting between Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa and a Kerala minister, during which the relationship was termed God’s Own Partnership, he said that the beach sand mining proposal appeared to be one of the projects discussed. “Is it God’s Own Partnership to allow Tamil Nadu’s minerals to be taken away by a neighbouring State? Is it God’s Own Partnership to let Kerala’s waste enter Tamil Nadu while Tamil Nadu’s natural wealth is shipped out? This is nothing but a betrayal of our people,” he said.

Meanwhile, in another statement, Palaniswami condemned the DMK government for hastily inaugurating the Semmozhi Poonga in Coimbatore despite the project lacking mandatory environmental clearances and being far from complete. He said that on November 25, 2025, Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the park in unholy haste even though only 70 per cent of the work had been completed. The project, estimated to cost Rs 204 crore, had not received the compulsory State Environmental Impact Assessment clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. By inaugurating an incomplete and unauthorised facility, the government had deceived the people of Coimbatore and exposed the public to grave risk, he said.

He further pointed out that several core components of the project, including flooring works, the compound wall, open gym, worker facilities, safety systems and the play field, remained unfinished. Despite spending Rs 40 crore more than previously sanctioned, the park had been opened without being anywhere near completion and without environmental clearance, even while many of the city’s existing parks were in a state of neglect and disrepair, Palaniswami said.