Pune | April 18, 2016:  WITH increasing cases of sand mafia attack on officials in district and state, the collectorate has forwarded a proposal requesting the use of at least one per cent of their recovery towards manpower and machinery to curb the illegal sand mining. A dedicated cell with the latest technology has also been proposed to the government.

With recovery of sand mining being the highest in the revenue department, the proposal moots that some amount be used towards improving the systems of monitoring, having a separate cell in every taluka to curb sand mining, use of information technology and vehicles for raids. The proposal forwarded by the district administration is pending with the government.

Incidentally, Pune has already crossed the target of recovery of Rs 175 crore for the financial year in sand mining achieving Rs 183.35 crore of which Rs 11 crore has come through penatly and fines itself. With 90 FIRs lodged in these cases, the administration has initated action in nearly 3,100 cases in the district.

“With limited manpower we are achieving the target but with better monitoring system we could do better. There is a huge number of illegal sand mining excavations in the district and our officials are conducting raids. However, Saturday’s incidence and previous cases also point to the need for a dedicated cell for monitoring such incidences,’’said district collector Saurabh Rao. He said that they have demanded only 1 per cent of the recovery or even lesser but if they get that amount, they can really improve the system.

Presently, the district administration lacks the cell or the vehicles to initiate the action. Deputy Collector Shankarrao Jadhav, in-charge of sand mining in the district, said they had set targets for all the revenue officials to carry out raids. However, the risk continues even as they have demanded special protection for these officers and the rampant rise of sand mafia. “The proposal that has been mooted to the state demands more manpower and information technology use whereby we can monitor the vehicles and even have a quick response team to intercept sand mafia,’’ he said.

With the rising incidences, the state government had even proposed for the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA), 1981 to cover illegal sand excavation cases. The administration has already proposed for four cases of MPDA of history sheeters under the same act and the same is to be cleared by the government.

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