With the rising price of river sand, the illegal sand-mining lobbies have started turning their attention once again to the poorly guarded coastlines in rural Kozhikode. People attached to a coastal vigilance committee from Chombal say that the entire coastline in their region is currently under the hold of illegal sand-miners who operate under cover of the night. Though the local police have been alerted several times of the practice, they are not carrying out regular patrols on the coastline, except occasionally, the vigilance committee members say. “Unlike river-sand-mining, sea-sand transportation requires very little effort as the miners will have to just fill sacks and load them to vehicles. At several places, one can find safe passages to drive vehicles to the seashore and load the sand,” a resident says. He adds that the agencies operating in the sector are pocketing huge money. Coastal areas close to Vadakara, Azhiyoor, Madakkathara, and Mukhachery too are under the hold of the illegal sand-miners, say families living in the area. “The police and revenue squads have seized the illegally transported sea sand several times, but steps to check the trend is yet to come from any quarters,” they say. Dangerous trend Even though sea sand is hardly recommended for quality construction work, sand-miners are supplying it to buyers in remote areas without revealing the truth. According to sources, they charge over Rs.100 for a sack of sea sand. Sea sand contains high levels of salinity, and if used in concrete buildings, it will surely lead to the rusting of steel parts and eventual collapse of the structure, they say. When contacted, officials of some of the police stations claimed that they were keen on conducting searches in the coastal areas, but secret informers appointed by the sand-miners were spoiling the effort. They added that some residents themselves played informers of the sea-sand lobby. Police not conducting regular patrols: residents Some residents informers of sand lobby: police