DVAC conducts drone survey of irrigation tank during illegal sand mining against EV Velu DMK

A drone survey was conducted in collaboration with the Tiruvannamalai Corporation Revenue and Police to assess the extent of damage caused to the water body. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) officials conducted an unmanned search of an irrigation tank at Malappambadi village near Tiruvannamalai in connection with allegations of illegal sand mining by former Transport and Roads Minister and senior DMK leader EV Velu for the party’s North Zone Youth Conference held on December 14, 2025.

DVAC sources said the drone survey was conducted in coordination with the Tiruvannamalai Corporation Revenue and Police to assess the extent of damage caused to the water body. It will also give the total depth and width of the reservoir that was excavated for this purpose. illegal sand mining. The survey was monitored by Ganesan, Deputy SP, DVAC (Ranipet), K.Selvam, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Tiruvannamalai and K.Balasubramanian, Corporation Commissioner.

The assessment comes in the wake of a complaint filed by Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO, with the DVAC at its headquarters in Chennai on August 13 this year. The complaint alleged that large volumes of sand were illegally mined from the irrigation tank allegedly on the instructions of the then PWD and Roads Minister Mr. Velu. The theft of sand allegedly caused a loss of ₹8 crore to the exchequer, the complainant claimed.

The sand was quarried to allegedly level open land of 124.56 acres to host the DMK conference. Former Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin and his son and former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin attended the conference.

The complaint also alleged that Mr. Velu, who was appointed North Zonal In-Charge of the 2026 Assembly polls in the DMK, personally supervised and managed the logistical arrangements for the conference. “Sand from the bottom of the reservoir has been illegally mined to a depth of about 10 feet to 23 feet in an extent of about 12 acres against the permitted depth limit of one meter under the Tamil Nadu Mineral Concession Rules, 1959. The mined sand can only be used for local agricultural, pottery and domestic purposes,” the complaint said.

Published – November 4, 2026 0:50 AM IST