Hemavathi river bed turning barren, warns Raitha Sangha

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, he said that they have even complained against illegal sand mining to Deputy Commissioner but no action has been taken so far to control the same.

“DC Chennappa Gowda has told us that he cannot spare time to tackle illegal sand mining till GP elections are over. This stand of DC is shocking and has mislead the administration of the district,” he said and added that mining is going on along the length of the river despite the fact that DC has not given official permission for the same. At present only 1 sand deposit point has been auctioned and the bidders have paid only 20 per cent of the bid amount but are taking sand in full volume.

Mines and Geology Department, Revenue Department and Police Department which should be taking action to control illegal sand mining are busy playing blame game.

He alleged that Mines and Geology Department officials confiscated the sand extracted from spots where permission for mining was given. But this was just an eye wash because it was learnt that the officials later had sold the sand to the same person who had extracted it. Informing that license are being issued for transportation of illegally mined sand, Manjunath said that violators are sure that no criminal case will be filed against them by Mines and Geology Department, hence they have been transporting loads and loads of sand using one single license. He said that Sangha had submitted a memorandum to the officials stating that spots identified for sand mining must be surveyed and demarcation of its boundaries must be taken up before allowing mining activities, but yet there has been no response to this demand.

On the other hand, sand mining has been going on relentlessly from Kottigehara to Sakleshpura on bank of river Hemavathi, he said. Leader Gurushanthappa, Lakshman Gowda and Puttaswamy Gowda were present.

Meanwhile, in Koppa, Hasiru Sene and Raitha Sangha have raised voice against the permission for usage of machineries for sand mining on the grounds that it will have adverse affect on the environment. They have demanded withdrawal of the permission.
Members of the organisation have said that by converting sand mining into a business, the government is posing a threat to farming community.