“No official can stop us from mining sand from the river beds once the DMK is in power”: Senthil Balaji

DMK’s Senthilbalaji’s statement at a public meeting in Karur that there would be no ban on sand mining in the river beds after the DMK comes to power and that sand mining authorities would not be in office has caused a great stir.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which has not been in power for 10 years, has issued various election promises in the hope of coming to power this time around. On the other hand Senthil Balaji has said that if the DMK comes to power, he will be giving free rein to those who wish to mine sand in the river beds.

Speaking at a public meeting in Karur at present, Senthil Balaji said, “If Stalin takes over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at 11.05 am, no officer will stop you from mining sand in the river beds. If you do get stopped, call me and the officer will not be there.”

Knowing that mining sand in the river beds will have a major impact on agriculture and water resources, the DMK candidate’s statement has caused a stir among farmers. Earlier, when the DMK was in power, there was severe water shortage due to the sand mining mafia. In order to prevent this, when the AIADMK came power, it came up with strict laws to prevent sand mining in the river beds.

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