Sand extraction continues unabated in Jagatsinghpur

Contractors in nexus with revenue officials indulge in the crime
Some of vehicles seized by police in Jagatsinghpur | Express
Some of vehicles seized by police in Jagatsinghpur | Express

PARADIP: A long line of trucks ferrying sand lifted from the beds of different rivers in Jagatsinghpur district is a common sight. The trade is  illegal and restriction imposed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) on sand lifting without proper environmental clearance has failed to stop the contractors from plundering the natural resource.

With the unauthorised trade turning out to be a lucrative cottage industry in the riverside villages of Tirtol and Kujang tehsils, the contractors have been engaging machines to lift sand from the river bed faster. This has resulted in soil erosion and a potential threat to environment.

The contractors steal sand from the river beds of Mahanadi, Chitroptala and other small tributaries in the district. The contractors, in connivance with some local revenue officials, indulge in indiscriminate sand mining. It is not that the district administration is not taking measures to stop the illegal trade.

The administration has issued orders that sand can be lifted only in specific areas but these directions too have failed to keep the mafia away.

Amid alleged reports of illegal supply of sand to different industries, revenue officials, with the help of local police, seized five trucks from the locality in the last few days.

Sources said different industries have pressed contractors to supply illegally mined sand for expansion of projects and construction purposes.

Cracking down on the illegal trade, police on Sunday seized five trucks and imposed a fine `25,640 for supplying sand without obtaining permission. Acting on a tip-off that a contractor had allegedly supplied sand to a plant for its expansion project, police and local tehsildar Basudev Satpathy raided the place and seized the heavy vehicles.

In another incident, contractors were shifting sand and soil from Government land of Chunbelari and Kutukula villages for land filling of a project. Acting on tip off, Kujang Tehsildar, with the help of IIC of Paradip Lock police station Chinmaya Rout, conducted raids and seized two tractors, two JCB machines and other sand digging machines from the spot.

The Tehsildar said, “All the sand lifters have been directed to obtain environment clearance from Government before lifting sand as per the recent order of NGT.”

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