Members of the Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Federation on Friday staged a sit-in protest here, urging the State government to resume sand mining operations in quarries in different parts of the State.
The federation called for a protest at the office of the Chief Engineer of the Water Resources Department and a large number of lorry owners from different parts of the State tried to enter the office. They were demanding steps to make available sand at the quarries.
However, the police put up a barricade to prevent protesters from entering the office. The lorry owners, thereafter, sat on the service road of the Tiruchi-Pudukottai Highway and raised slogans demanding resumption of mining operations in the quarries.
The leaders of 30 associations met the Chief Engineer and impressed upon the need of resuming quarries.
Federation president Sella Rajamani said that since the searches of the Enforcement Directorate, most of the sand quarries had remained closed. A number of representations was sent to the TVK government. However, the problem had not been solved. It had left 55,000 sand lorries in the State idle, affecting the livelihood of their owners, crew and other daily wage earners.
WRD officials had stated that a case was pending before the Supreme Court, seeking to vacate the stay on using machines to mine sand. There was no problem in mining sand manually. Hence, the State government should open quarries immediately.
Mr. Rajamani said that the protest had been withdrawn temporarily on the promise of the WRD officials. The federation would resort to protest again soon if their demands were not met.
Published - October 16, 2026 08:27 pm IST