Mining despite ban, 11 vehicles seized

Ravinder Saini

Mahendragarh, February 13

The mining of riverbed sand, which is banned in the district, is going on unabated even as the authorities impounded 11 vehicles involved in the illegal activity this month so far.

Sources said most of the sand and gravel, extracted from the Krishnavati and Dohan rivers, were sold to people carrying out construction activity in nearby areas.

Of the 11 impounded vehicles, nine were found loaded with sand. An official of the Mining Department said, “Since the riverbeds are spread over a long area in Nangal Choudhary and Narnaul subdivisions in the district, it is not possible to keep tabs on the entire area round the clock. Those involved in this illegal activity do so either early in the morning or late in the evening to evade action.”

Niranjan Lal, Mining Officer, Mahendragarh, said there was a ban on the mining of riverbed sand. “A district-level task force has been formed to check violations. Officers of the mining, forest, police and pollution departments are part of the task force, which is authorised to conduct raids and seize vehicles transporting mining material illegally,” he said.

“We have imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on offenders and impounded 11 vehicles this month. The owners of only two vehicles have so far deposited Rs 4.5 lakh fine,” said Lal, adding the remaining cases would be sent to the police for the registration of FIRs against the vehicle owners.

A source said, “The violators instead of paying fine with the department wait for the case to reach the court after the registration of an FIR. They get the vehicles released by paying a nominal fee fixed by the court which is usually in the range of 10-20 per cent of the total penalty.”