Kerala: Fishermen are quite worried over the move to mine sand from the sea. Charles George, state president of the Fishermen Association, told Medium Online that the fishermen will go on strike against the mining project. The decision in this regard was taken at a workshop and roadshow held at the Rinnai Centre in Kochi on January 11 and 12. The expression of interest which is a part of this should be submitted by February 18. The tender process will be completed on February 27. Out of the ten blocks found in Kerala, three blocks in the Kollam Sea have been put up for sale by the central government. The initial finding is that Kerala has 275 million tonnes of sea sand in five areas. The sale in Kollam alone is estimated to bring an investment of 300 million tonnes. Constitutionally, the state government has the right to maintain the coastline up to 12 nautical miles. When the coastal management notification was renewed in 2011, the Centre also took over the rights of this area.
After the Centre amended the 2002 Act relating to offshore mineral mining in 2023, the central government started selling sand directly. All the five centres in Kerala with sea sand deposits are rich in fish resources. Thousands of fishing boats are concentrated here. Of these, the sale is taking place in an area called Chettuwa Bank and the Kollam sector.
