Retired police inspector Mohanraj plans to collect sand from the rivers in the southern districts and give them to the govt museum in Chennai Tirunelveli FIGHTING against sand smuggling in the State, a 56-year-old retired Inspector of Police, J Mohanraj, from Thoothukudi is on a mission to save the River Tamirabarani and other rivers in the State. Mohanraj, who is on a padayatra from Thoothukudi to Chennai, will collect sand from all the rivers and hand it over to the officials at Government Museum in Chennai. Mohanraj is the son of freedom fighter the late Nellai Jebamani. He said the rampant sand mining at Mangalakurichi near Kurangani for the last two years frustrated him and he decided to seek details about the same from the Department of Public Works Department under Right to Information (RTI) Act. The RTI reply said that in Man galakurichi 31,627.5 loads of sand had been quarried while the Government has earned a revenue of Rs 1.89 crore by selling sand from this quarry . Following this incident on September 1, Mohanraj, a devotee of former Chief Minister, K Kamaraj, commenced a padayatra from his birthplace Thoothukudi with the slogan