Delayed Action Against Offenders Leading To Loss To Exchequer: Report The latest Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) report has noted that delays on the part of district collectors in confiscating vehicles that transported illegal river sand have not only incurred a huge loss to the state exchequer but even led to the degradation of the rivers in the state. The report says the illegal supply of sand was double that of the legal supply last year. “While the official supply of sand was 4.90 million tones, the illegal supply of sand was 10.44 million tonnes last year,“ it pointed out. The CAG said that quantity of sand seized and confiscated were not measured and recorded. There were also delays on the part of district administrations in confiscating vehicles that transported illegal sand, under the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Sand Act, 2001. “The delays ranged from six weeks to five years. The revenue department also did not file written complaints in the court against the offenders. This allowed the offenders to escape court proceedings,“ the CAG report said. Records show that out of the 4,244 cases, written complaints were not made in 4,124 cases. The audit noted that no proper records were kept regarding the number of vehicles seized. Out of the 4,244 vehicles confiscated in five districts, 759 in Ernakulam and Palakkad districts were detained by the district authorities without taking any action under the rules. A large number of such seized vehicles were parked in an open yard at Kadampuzha without being confiscated. There are also no details on the number of such vehicles, the CAG said. The CAG said there are huge anomalies in the quantity of sand seized by police and the actual quantity accounted for by the District Nirmithi Kendras (DNK) which have been authorized to sell the sand. In Kottayam, records showed that the quantum of sand seized by police was 1,531.28 cubic metres but the actual quantity received by DNK was just 1,090.97 cubic meter. “In the absence of proper system to measure and record the quantity of sand seized and confiscated, the possibility of pilferage of sand could not be rules out,“ the report said. The CAG also said the selling of sand at a rate lesser than the PWD rates has resulted in a loss of Rs 1.63 crore. “The sand auditing report by exert agencies pointed out that illegal sand mining was rampant in Neyyar and Vamanapuram rivers. Illegal sand mining was reported from 187 sites along the Vamanapuram river in Thiruvananthapuram district,“ the CAG said.