Summary:
However, he said that sand was being collected 500 metres away from the existing barrage on the downstream of the river. They are collecting thousands of bags of sand just 100 metres away from the barrage on the downstream, where a new barrage would come up. Without realising the consequences of deepening the river bed, officials allowed the workers to collect sand from very close to the barrage. The width had been expanded to 6 metres from 4 metres while the height had been raised to 5 foot. The farmers had been claiming that it was sand mining in Cauvery and Kollidam rivers that led to the collapse of nine shutters of the regulator at Mukkombu.Instead of taking it from near the barrage, the farmers have appealed to the authorities to collect sand from wherever dunes were blocking the water flow..