Moga | Feb 12, 2015:

Sand being illegally extracted and loaded in a tractor-trailer from a dry canal in Said Mohammad Khan village in Moga district. A Tribune Photograph

With local body elections around the corner, the mining mafia has reportedly decreased the rates of sand by about 25 per cent in the urban areas.

The mafia has become active in the Sutlej basin in Dharamkot subdivision of Moga district. Sources said sand was being illegally extracted from the areas near the Sutlej embankment, especially Madarpur and Takhtuwala villages, and a canal in Said Mohammad Khan village.

The sand extracted illegally from these areas is being supplied to urban buyers in Moga, Barnala, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Muktsar and other adjoining districts.

Sources alleged local Akali leaders were involved in illegal mining. Hundreds of trucks and tractor-trailers loaded with sand could be seen transporting sand at night these days, they said.

Kuldip Singh of Faridkot said he paid Rs 180 per tonne to a local resident for extracting sand from a dry canal in Said Mohammad Khan village. “A tractor-trailer loaded with sand costs me Rs 7,500 and I sell it for Rs 9,000 in Faridkot,” he said. Policemen posted at checkpoints set up on the highways charge a fixed amount from him to let him transport sand from one district to the other, he said.

Sand extracted from government-approved mining sites is being sold at Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per tractor-trailer, depending on its quantity.

District president of the Congress Darshan Singh Brar said the SAD-BJP leadership had deliberately given a boost to illegal sand mining. The aim was to impress urban voters by creating an impression that the prices of sand had been brought down by the state government, he said.

(Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com)

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