BELAGAVI (Karnataka) | Jul 23, 2015:
Illegal stone mining taking place in close proximity to Gokak Falls on Wednesday.— PHOTO: BY Special Arrangement
The red rock hilly stretches on one side of Gokak Falls, a major tourist destination of north Karnataka region falling in a notified area, is being systematically mined by unidentified persons, even as the officials of the Department of Mines and Geology here have denied giving permission for stone mining to any agency or individual in the stated area.
Sources told The Hindu on Wednesday that stone mining was in progress in the red rock formations on one side of the falls across the Ghataprabha river in broad daylight for the past four to five months.
But, nobody dared here to question the miners for fear of being targeted.
The mining is going on a site which can be reached by a circuitous road or just by crossing the rope way over the falls and is visible even from a short distance.
When contacted, Divisional Forest Officer K.L. Raghavendra told The Hindu that he was not aware of the mining.
He said the sites where the mining was going on was not a forest area and might be on private land. Yet, it was violation of rules as the Gokak Falls and areas surrounding it had been declared as Ecological Sensitive Zone (ESZ), where permission for mining operations was ruled out. However, he said he would ask the concerned Range Forest Office (RFO) to check and take up the matter with concerned department.
Deputy Director of Mines and Geology E. Shekharappa said that the department had not granted permission for stone mining or clearance of the rock beds near the falls to anybody.
Since the area fell under ESZ, the government had entrusted the concerned RFO to monitor the area. Yet, he would immediately inform the RFO of Gokak Falls and Gokak Tahsildar to stop mining and take action against the persons engaged in it, he said.
(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)