62 lorries carrying smuggled sand seized in Mulbagal, Malur

Around 62 lorries were seized in the district on Monday in two separate raids carried out by officials of Police and Revenue Departments. 

In the first incident, more than 60 lorries were seized on Narasimhatheertha and Tayalur Cross located on the outskirts of the City. A penalty has also been slapped on the lorry owners.
As per the orders of the District Incharge Secretary and Deputy Commissioner, stringent measures will be taken to tackle illegal sand mining in the area, Mulbagal Tahsildar P Jayamadhava has said.
In Malur
In the second instance, acting on a tip off, the office bearers of the Tank Users’ Club,  seized two lorries and handed them over to the police. The lorries were allegedly transporting sand illegally at Paduvanahalli Tank.
Sources close to the investigation said that illegal sand mining was rampant in Padavanahalli, Vappacchalli, Bantahalli, D N Doddi and Bennaghatta in D N Doddi Gram Panchayat limits in Lakkur Hobli. 

The sand was being transported from the State to Kerela during the night. This has adversely affected the fertility of the soil near tanks along with depletion of ground water level.
Futile efforts
Earlier, the Tahsildar and police officials had seized several lorries involved in illegal sand mining and registered cases, but they have been unable to tackle the situation completely, the residents complained. They urged to solve the problem at the earliest by introducing strict measures.

President of Tank Users Association V Palakshababu, Doddi Muniraju, Krishnappa, B R Narayanappa, Venkatachalapathy and others were part of the investigating team.