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Crackdown on illegal sand miners in B'luru

Production and transport of filter sand is illegal, says Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner
Last Updated 17 March 2016, 20:03 IST

In a pre-dawn swoop on illegal sand mining and transport, authorities seized 482 trucks at 40 different places here on Thursday. The raids were conducted following complaints that illegal sand mining was rampant across Bengaluru, especially near valleys, which can harm the environment.

Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner V Shankar decided on the raids after a meeting with officials of Revenue, Forest, Mines and Geology, Transport, Public Works departments and the police. Accordingly, 40 teams of officials from these departments were formed.

The raids began at 4 am, with the authorities particularly targeting Anekal, Bengaluru East and Bengaluru South taluks where illegal mining of sand is said to be rampant. Among the places that were targeted were Anekal, Attibele, Sarjapur, Dasanapura, Hosakerehalli and near Central Silk Board junction.

Processing units

The raiding parties destroyed illegal sand-filtering and processing units. The transporters of illegally mined sand put up resistance but the heavy police presence reined them in.

Shankar told Deccan Herald, “The production of filter sand is prohibited under law. Such sand is of poor quality and should not be used in construction. It also pollutes the water.

“Extracting sand from the soil mounds depletes the ground water table, too.” The deputy commissioner said that sand suppliers didn’t have permit to extract or transport sand in Bengaluru. The transporters have been booked under the Karnataka Mines and Geology Act.

Sand from TN

Some of the seized trucks were transporting sand from Tamil Nadu. Many truck drivers do not have the permit to transport sand into Karnataka, but they manage to bring sand via Hosur and sell it in Bengaluru, because of their nexus with government officials, said a source in Anekal.

Tamil Nadu suppliers charge Rs 45,000 for a truckload of sand while the one produced in Karnataka is sold at Rs 75,000 per truckload. 

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(Published 17 March 2016, 20:02 IST)

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