Surat | April 21, 2017: Officials of mines and mineral department of state government seized 16 trucks, two containers and about 250 metric tonne (MT) of illegally mined sand in raids that were being conducted since Wednesday night in Surat city and other parts of the district.

D K Patel, district geologist, said, "Following specific information we seized 14 trucks laden with sand from Parvat Patiya canal road area on early Thursday morning. These trucks had 200 MT of illegally mined sand."

Officials also seized two trucks from toll plaza on National Highway 8. Officials have fined the owners of the truck Rs 5 lakh as four of these 16 trucks were without royalty pass and other 12 were over loaded. These trucks were kept in private plot in Pipodhara and Pasodara area of Surat district.

In another raid carried out on Thursday evening, two containers with nearly 48 MT of sand was seized which was being sent to Mumbai from near Siyalaj village near Kosamba in Surat district. It is against law to send sand out of the state. "We are waiting for one Jitu Kakadia, who is considered to be the owner of the containers and sand," said Patel.

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