Following reports of illegal sand mining in Hemavathi river, near Alebelur and Vadur villages in the taluk, assistant commissioner has ordered a complete ban on the mining operations along the banks of the river.

Assistant Commissioner Srividya, senior scientist of department of Geology Hanumantha Reddy, assistant engineer of Public Works Department Venkatesh and tahsildar Manjunath conducted a spot inspection on Monday.

During the inspection, officials observed that sand was being mined from the river bank. The contractor who had a permit to mine sand from the right bank of the river had extended his operations illegally to the opposite bank by constructing a make shift road using mounds of sand.

Officials opined that the original shape of the river had been disturbed by the unscientific extraction of sand from the river-bed. Srividya allowed for the transport of sand that was stocked near the bank, while ordering a stop into the mining operations till further orders from the deputy commissioner of the district.

Srividya said that the contractor, Naveen, had violated the terms of the mining contract. He has disturbed the ecology of the river by employing JCBs to extract sand from the flowing river and stopping the flow of the river by constructing sand dunes across it. A video report of the same will be sent to the DC. A meeting will be held at DC’s office on Wednesday in this regard, she said.