Severe drought conditions have led to drying up of the river The Bharathapuzha is a trickle. Severe drought conditions and drying up of the river have virtually brought it under the control of the sand-mining lobby. Hundreds of truckloads of sand are collected from the river bed in blatant violation of rules. The authorities have so far failed to initiate any action to stop the indiscriminate mining of sand. A few officials who had sought to take action against the ‘sand mafia’ had been physically attacked. The government took no action to provide protection to them. The rules stipulate that sand can be mined only at the authorised `kadavus’. No vehicle is allowed to enter the river bed. But with the water flow drying up, sand-mining operators now take their lorries to the river bed and mine sand in full view of the authorities. Hundreds of workers are employed to collect sand in the Ottappalam-Shoranur-Pattambi stretch of the river. Indiscriminate sand-mining in the Bharathapuzha has also caused acute drinking water shortage in 175 grama panchayats covering over six lakh people and nearly a dozen municipalities in Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur districts. The river is dead except at the Velliyamkal regulator and the Lakkidi check-dam areas in the district, said Prasad Shoranur, a photographer and environmentalist. He said sand-mining and encroachment upon the riverbed and its banks had reduced the water retaining capacity of the river. T.N.N. Bhattathiripad, former Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, said “during the monsoon, the river gets filled up, but soon after, it dries up. This is because the average annual water discharge through the river is allowed to flow into the Arabian Sea.” “The river is covered with shrubs and weeds at many places. Its destruction has been rapid and steady. The sand lobby has virtually taken over the river and the authorities have failed to enforce the laws relating to sand-mining,” said Indanur Gopi, secretary, Bharathapuzha Samrakshana Samithy. Trucks are driven to the riverbed to collect sand. This is a common sight at Pattambi, Shoranur and other stretches of the river, he said. “Sand-mining has become a lucrative business in view of the boom in the construction sector and the absence of alternatives to river sand. The sand-miners have the tacit support of political parties,” Mr. Gopi alleged. Sand-mining had led to depletion of the groundwater level and had affected the water flow. Saline water entered the river easily, especially during summer. The three-month ban on sand-mining during monsoon was also not being enforced, he said. The 11 dams on the course of the Bharathapuzha, four in Tamil Nadu and the rest in Kerala, constructed under the inter-State Parambikulam-Aliyar Project to divert its waters to Tamil Nadu had also affected the water flow. An expert committee appointed by the government a few years ago had found that “lowering of the water table had accelerated the intrusion of saline seawater into the main river. The wells dug up for drinking water supply had become non-functional and at some places. Lorries enter river bed in violation of rules Drinking water shortage in 175 grama panchayats