Checkposts to check illegal sand-mining

Tahsildar M K Savitha said with sand mining continuing unabatedly from the Shimsha river bed in the taluk, plans are on to set up 10 checkposts across the taluk equipped with closed circuit cameras to check the same.

She was presiding over a meeting of officials of various departments to discuss curbing of illegal sand mafia in the taluk.

She warned of filing criminal cases against the contractors  who employ labourers who have migrated from Bihar and involve them in sand lifting at Navile, Torechanahalli, Kiranguru, K Bellur, Chikkalale villages.

Due to continuous plying of lorries, the roads are ridden with potholes and some land owners too are cooperating with the sand mafia, who will also be sternly dealt with. Their lands will be identified as government land and criminal cases filed on them, she stated.

She explained that surprise raids have been leaked by some officials of the revenue department, allowing them to escape from the hands of law. It has been decided to monitor the staff and take strict action against them if they were found guilty, Savitha warned.
Dy SP Hanumantha Reddy said though the department is under constant stress, they are ready to cooperate to curb sand mining in the district.

The department is ready to send the staff if necessary and put an end to sand mining, he
said.

Senior scientist of department of mines and geology, AEE of Public Works department Janardhan, CPI Putta Obalareddy and others were present.