Navi Mumbai | May 08, 2017: There were three major crackdowns on illegal sand extraction in Raigad district last week.

In Kolad, the police on Friday seized illegal sand and a dumper collectively worth Rs 6.06 lakh.

While the Roha tehsil office squad seized sand worth Rs 43,000 and imposed a penalty on Thursday, the Murud Roha traffic police confiscated sand worth Rs 21,000 on Friday.

The locals have alleged that a massive amount of sand is being illegally extracted on Kundalika river bed and no official action is being taken.

A Roha tehsil squad has started a probe to find out how sand was being transported through Khari check post on Thursday.

Roha naib tehsildar Dipak Gaikwad and Kolad talathe Sachin Kate led the team that seized a dumper loaded with two brass of sand at Bhalgaon creek area. A penalty of over Rs 43,000 has been imposed on the dumper owner, Ramdas Salgi

In the second incident, the Murud-Roha traffic police had come across a dumper loaded with one brass of sand on Friday. The revenue officials penalized the dumper owner of over Rs 21,000. However, activists say the penalty has not been proportionate to the amount of sand seized.

A Raigad police officer said, "The Kolad police has booked the driver of a dumper loaded with four brass of sand. The vehicle with the sand was seized at Khamb village near Mumbai-Goahighway (NH66). A case has been lodged under IPC section 379."

Locals have alleged that illegal sand extraction is rampant in Bhalgaon creek area under political patronage.

"The creek area in Roha is a safe den for illegal sand extraction. The mining happens at night in inaccessible forest areas like Khargaon, Gokan, Yashwant Khar, Kharapte, Nhava and Are village areas," Roha resident Altaf Chordekar said.

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