BHOPAL | Feb 07, 2017: A day after Sehore district collector told National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench of Bhopal that illegal sand mining takes place at some places in the district, the district administration, in a massive crackdown on mining mafia in Bundelkhand, confiscated 440 tractor trollies carrying illegally mined sand, on Tuesday.

In a separate case, a fine of Rs 1.7 crore was slapped following sudden inspection of 13 stone mines in Raj Nagar region of Chhatarpur district. Besides Raj Nagar, the district administration teams carried out raids in Luv Kush Nagar, Bijawar and Badamalahara tehsils, on Tuesday.

Chhatarpur district collector Ramesh Bhandari told TOI, "During the operations, 440 tractor trollies carrying illegally mined sand were confiscated by the task force team comprising officials of revenue, mining and forest departments besides police personnel."

He said that sudden inspection was carried out at 13 mines in Rakheri, Ghoora and Khajwa villages, among others. This includes one mine of granite. All the mines have been sealed and heavy machineries, including a JCB deployed for carrying mining operations, have been confiscated.

Last week, a group of people at Hinota village of Chhatarpur held a demonstration on the dry bed of river Ken. The villagers demanded to demolish an illegal bridge constructed by the mafia the way it was done in neighbouring Panna where a bridge was constructed on the same river.

Bhandari said, "Mining operations at all the sand and stone mines are being monitored and action will be initiated immediately against illegal operations."

Kamal Singh, a resident of Hinota village, who had sat on dharna last week against illegal mining, said, "Large number of heavy vehicles coming from across Uttar Pradesh illegally operate whole night that leads to pollution in the village. The level of pollution is so high that it becomes difficult to breathe." He said that the village is just 500 metres away from the mine.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)