HYDERABAD | Oct 31, 2015: Pushed to a corner with adverse High Court remarks, the Mahabubnagar district police have hit upon a novel idea to curb the rampant illegal sand mining.

Having created an ID in the popular instant messaging system of WhatsApp, the district police is appealing to people to alert them by sending info about illegal sand mining to two exclusive mobile phone numbers.

All that concerned citizens have to do is to pass on the detail of the area from where sand is illegally being taken away.

One should note down details of the vehicle being used for transporting the sand and the persons involved.

Info like pictures and other details can be messaged to 9490619423 or 7680891500 for prompt action from the police. Mahabubnagar Superintendent of Police P. Vishwa Prasad said the identity of the informers would be kept confidential.

Explaining the initiatives taken so far, the SP said special teams have been formed to crack down on sand mining in different parts of the district, besides stepping up patrolling.

Vehicles confiscated
Vehicles carrying illegal sand have been confiscated and the arrested persons are being produced in the court, the SP said.

He sought cooperation of people who can tip them off about illegal quarrying so that immediate action is taken.

With people’s cooperation, the police can easily ensure that mineral wealth is not looted, he added.

PIL triggers action
It may be mentioned here that a public interest litigation was filed by Watch -- Voice of People in August contending that sand was being illegally excavated in Mahabubnagar district. A Division Bench of the High Court asked the Mahabubnagar SP to apprehend the kingpins of illegal sand excavation in the district.

Sand mafia ruling
roost, court told
During the hearing, the court was informed that sand mafia was resorting to indiscriminate sand mining across Mahabubnagar in river beds, tanks and even in the fields of farmers.

In a specific instance, it was pointed out that a farmer from Makthal mandal was crushed to death by a tractor driver when he resisted sand extraction in his fields.

Similarly, two-wheeler of a revenue officer was set ablaze when he was going to gather information about the murder.

Surveillance
The SP said that following the High Court observation, the police had launched full scale surveillance on sand mining and taken stringent action against the erring people.

(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)