Tahshildar seizes illegally stored sand in Mangalore

Mangalore Tahsildar Manjunath found the illegal stock of sand when they inspected the site based on the tip off from media persons. It was unearthed during interrogation and document verification that the sand stock found in the Trust premises was exceeding the quantity allotted in the permit issued by the Mines and Geology Department to the contractor. Moreover, the contractor Prabhachandra Mayya had failed to produce details regarding the royalty paid for the sand stored in about 2 acres of land.

Mayya told officials and reporters that he had obtained 90 days’ sand mining permit from the department by paying Rs 10,000 in 2009. He asserted that the sand was stocked for rainy season. The permit issued to Mayya allows him to mine only upto 330 tonnes sand. Whereas, the contractor could not produce documents for more than 1,000 tonnes of sand kept in the Vikas Education Trust premises.

Mayya said that the huge quantity of sand was kept since they have several construction projects in the City. “It is not illegal hoard. However, we have lost the documents related to the stock,” he explained.

Manjunath, who visited the spot based on Deputy Commissioner V Ponnuraj’s direction, said that penalty will be levied from the contractor if the quantity of sand does not match the documents. “Notice will be served to the party asking them to produce ducuments for the excess quantity of sand. Till then, the sand will be in police custody,” he added.

Though Deputy Director of Mines and Geology Department Raveendra had reached the spot early, he could not initiate action with regard to the issue. Raveendra had told reporters that the Department has the trip sheets and documents regarding 330 tonnes of sand kept in the premises. “Some contractors mine more than 330 tonnes and they pay the royalty for additional sand later. In such case, we are not able to take action,” he added.

Further, Raveendra said that Mayya was paying lakhs of rupees royalty to the Department. He is storing sand for his own construction purposes and he can store sand according to his requirement, he added.

When the officer started defending contractor, media persons requested the DC, who is the Chairman of the Task Force formed to check illegal sand mining, to take action. Following this, DC sent Tahsildar to the spot.

However, when contacted at around 9.30 pm, Tahsildar Manjunath told Deccan Herald that the contractor has produced documents regarding royalty payment for 850 tonnes. However, he said, “we have served notice to the contractor and asked them not to transport seized sand till enquiry was over,” he added.