Pune | Dec 23, 2015:

According to the district administration, of the total 2,248 cases — 485 cases have been against illegal quarrying and 1,763 cases against illegal sand mining. Express photo

HIGHLIGHTING the spread of one of the most brazen rackets — illegal sand mining — in Pune, the district administration has registered 2,248 cases against illegal extraction of sand from river beds and illegal quarry mining in just four months—topping the list of action carried out by any district in the state.

While last year there were only 448 cases, the major swoop down by the district administration from September to December 15 has resulted in registering these cases, leading to 48 FIRs and 995 seized vehicles.

The administration has garnered Rs 6.62 crore in these raids and have seized over 3,727 brass of sand material. The state government had recently directed the district administration to set up committees to check illegal extraction of sand from rivers, with district collector heading these committees comprising superintendent of police, regional transport officer and district mining officer, and carrying out the action.

“With Pune being one of the districts leading in sand mining offences and the district collector having set a target for every field officer to register one action against offender every month, we were able to register so many offences. We had a team in every taluka of the district and the actions were initiated against illegal sand mining on the river bed and illegal quarrying activities,’’ said deputy collector Shankarrao Jadhav. He said that this is the first time, in such a short span, a huge number of cases have been registered.

The administration has, in the period from April to December 15 this year, recovered Rs 108 crore and have set a target of Rs 175 crore till March-end from sand mining. In the raid conducted during the four months, of the total 2,248 cases — 485 cases have been against illegal quarrying and 1,763 cases against illegal sand mining on the river bed.

With the state also clearing the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, 1981 on those involved in illegal sand mining, the district administration will be registering these cases under the act. The administration has filed 48 FIRs and the main offences have been registered from Daund, Indapur, Haveli, Shirur talukas of the district. Illegal mining of sand is rampant in rivers like Bhima, Ghod, Mula, Mutha and Indrayani in the district. Sand is extracted mainly during the night and transported to various locations. “As many as 700 officers are working day and night, and stepping up the vigil, ’’ said the officer.

Meanwhile, with the government having received an approval from President Pranab Mukherjee for amendment in the MPDA Act, the police can take action on them, seize their property and vehicles as per rules. Care has been taken to preserve environment and only licence holders are being permitted to carry on excavation. The district administration is all set to register the offences on repeated offenders. “We are yet to get the guidelines but will do so for repeated offenders and we have sought a list from all the talukas on the same,’’said Jadhav.

With flying squads being formed in every district, sub zonal and taluka levels and fine amount being increased five times, the district administration has stated that even for vehicles seized they are taking bonds up to Rs 7-10 lakh. Of the 995 vehicles seized, 871 were trucks, 78 tractors, 12 JCBs, 4 pokhlains and 30 were boats that were involved in these activities. The district presently has 51 sand mining sites and 849 quarries. The administration has stated that a bar-coded system will be introduced for the receipts that have been given permission for quarrying to increase the checks and more teams will be deployed. The district administration has set a target of 2,500 cases by March-end.

(Source: http://indianexpress.com/)