In a move to curb the illegal sand mining at various places on Cauvery and Amaravati Rivers, the Karur police have decided to deploy drones to monitor the sand mining activities.To test the efficacy of the footage the police on Thursday launched a drone surveillance over the Cauvery River at Vangal, considered a notorious spot for illegal sand mining. A team of police personnel will operate the drone, which has been hired from a private owner. It will be operational round-the-clock.Superintendent of Police D.N. Harikiran Prasad, who supervised the arrangements, told The Hindu that the drone had a range of 5-km radius. The cameras fitted with the drone could capture all activities within its range. Police personnel would be sent to the areas based on drone inputs. Action would be taken against the sand smugglers based on the inputs available on the drone.He said that more drone cameras would be involved in the sand smuggling surveillance. A proposal would be sent to the State government, seeking allocation of drones with a range of 10-km radius. It would enable the police to step up surveillance along the riverbeds of the Cauvery and the Amaravati Rivers.Mr. Harikiran said that the instances of sand smuggling had come down drastically over the last few weeks. The police personnel attached to the police stations situated along the rivers had been asked to step up surveillance.Prior to the Enforcement Directorate searches in 2023, the Water Resources Department operated sand quarries at Nanniyur and Mallampalayam. It operates no quarries now. However, it is alleged that illegal mining is going on at several places on the riverbed of the Cauvery and the Amaravathi. It was rampant at various places until the conduct of State elections recently. It had taken place at 30 places on the river beds of the two rivers. Mettupalayam, Kadambankurichi, Kalipalayam, Vangal, Mallampalayam, Nerur, Vadapagam, Thenpagam, Pudupalayam, Aranganathanpettai, Thirumukkudalur, Thottakurichi, Manmangalam, Amaravathi, Somur, Koyampalli, Thirumanilaiyur, Sukkaliyur, Sellandipalayam and Chinnandankoil were among the places, where illegal sand mining was allegedly taking place. The instances of sand smuggling have come down to an extent after the new government assumed office. Published - June 11, 2026 08:09 pm IST