2-day raid against illegal sand, soil mining activities in Jajpur dist | Bhubaneswar News
Kendrapada: The mining department, along with the police, carried out a two-day raid targeting illegal sand and soil mining activities related to minor minerals in Jajpur district.During the raid, which concluded on Thursday, 27 vehicles were seized.“We seized 16 trucks, 10 tractors and an excavator at Tikarpada, Pankapal, Debigoda, Digambarpur, Biribati, Panikoili, Jabara, Paikarapur, Katia, Jokadia, Chakua, Serapur, Brahmanigaon and Manduka areas under Tahasil of Rasulpur, Danagadi, Jajpur, Dharamsala, Vyasanagar, Dasarathpur, Bari and Darpan. All the seized vehicles were handed over to the nearby police stations. Accordingly, penalties were imposed and FIRs were lodged in all the cases.Necessary action will be taken against the miscreants as per law,” Jayaprakash Nayak, the deputy director of mines (minor minerals), Jajpur circle, said.“In addition to this, the district administration has been requested to impose a prohibitory order under Section 163 of BNNS in and around the illegal sand and soil mining areas. Enforcement efforts are underway and it will continue in the future, focusing on addressing illegal mining activities related to minor minerals in the district,” he added.The directorate of minor minerals has formed a committee to investigate the illegal mining of sand, soil, morum and other minor minerals in these areas. “We will submit a report to the authorities soon. Our department is determined to prevent illegal sand mining in these areas by some sand mafias,” Nayak said.“There was a rampant increase in illegal sand mining before the onset of monsoon recently in the rivers because swollen rivers make extraction extremely difficult during the rainy season in the district,” Narendra Pradhan of Jokadia village said.Unauthorised sand mining is turning out to be a lucrative cottage industry in many riverside villages. Many riverside villagers are now up in arms against the officials and sand mafias for illegal sand mining in the rivers,” Adhir Behera of Biribati village said.The village roads in the riverside areas are in bad condition due to the plying of heavy vehicles laden with sand, many villagers claimed.
