UDUPI | April 06, 2017: To prevent illegal sand mining on river banks, the DC has formed a committee involving police, who will clear illegal sheds and other infrastructure which is used in sand mining in the district.

Raids will be conducted at Kundapur, Brahmavar and Byndoor area with police being part of the raids, said Udupi deputy commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis. At the sand mining task force meet held on Wednesday, she said the decision was taken after the attack on her and other officials on Sunday night.

At the meeting, the DC said that boats and dredging machines will be seized. She instructed RTO to cancel the permits of truck carrying illegal sand instaed of just fining them. A total of 60,000 tonne of sand available in the district for construction, she added. The PWD, Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) and mines and geology department will ensure that the public get sand for construction activities. Trucks carrying sand must be installed with GPS, she suggested.

District Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna said that the police department will offer its cooperation in the crack down against the sand mafia. Kundapur already has an exclusive police team, he added.

For sand requirements, the public can contact assistant executive engineer, public works department, Kundapur 9448428545, senior geologist, department of mines and geology, Manipal, 9008599623, and executive engineer, KRIDL, Manipal 9449534792.

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