Bolpur,WB | Oct. 13, 2015: A joint raid by the irrigation department and Birbhum police resulted in the seizure of 39 trucks carrying illegally mined sand and the arrest of around 60 people last night, though questions emerged on the efficacy of the first firm step to curb pilfering.
Several state government officials and Opposition leaders said such measures were "futile" without any plan of action to arrest those who run the illegal sand mining trade. They alleged that action was not taken against such people because of their "proximity" to the ruling establishment.
Those arrested last night were drivers, cleaners and helpers of the trucks.
Illegal sand mining, allegedly backed by a section of Trinamul leaders in Birbhum and Burdwan, has been a headache for the ruling establishment in recent years.
Despite repeated warnings from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the problem has not shown any sign of subsiding. Over the past year, at least a dozen lives have been lost in factional clashes of the ruling party allegedly over illegal mining.
At an administrative meeting in Birbhum in July, Mamata had instructed officials to take steps to curb the menace, days after three Trinamul members were killed in Burdwan's Khandaghosh in a faction fight seen as the fallout of pilfering.
Last night's crackdown was conducted along the exit route from the river Brahmani, where four illegal mines operate. The 39 trucks had around 27,300 cubit feet of sand (weighing at least 1,500 tonnes).
Residents claim that at least 400 trucks - each carrying around 700 cubic feet (38-40 tonnes) of sand - leave the sand mines on the bank of the Brahmani a day. The amount of money involved is Rs 3-5 lakh a day, they claim.
"Seizing trucks and arresting drivers will not make a difference as long as those who run the mines are not picked up. There are no plans of doing that, as of now," a Nabanna source said tonight.
Birbhum BJP president Arjun Saha, whose party has been trying to build a movement in the area against the pilferage of sand, said the "political umbrellas" protecting those involved in sand smuggling had to be removed first.
"The big players are protected by the ruling party. What good will the arrest of poor drivers and helpers bring?" asked Saha.
In response to the allegations against Trinamul regarding its involvement in the illegal mining, district vice-president Moloy Mukherjee tried to distance the party from the pilfering.
"It is not a political problem. It certainly has nothing to do with the ruling party. It is a problem the administration is trying to tackle and the law will take its own course," Mukherjee said. "We are glad there was a crackdown last night. It was a step in the right direction."
(Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/)