464 tonnes of illegal sand seized since Jun 10: East S’bhum DC

Jamshedpur: East Singhbhum administration has seized 464 tonnes of sand, which were illegally mined from the riverbeds in violation of the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) four-month annual ban which came into effect from June 1, officials here said.Deputy commissioner Karn Satyarthi said a special task force (STF), which was constituted to enforce the ban, carried out 15 raids districtwide and seized 464 tonnes of illegally mined sand.Satyarthi on Thursday chaired a meeting with the STF personnel and instructed them to be more vigilant in rural areas like Baharagora and Gurabenda where sand mining by mafias is more frequent.District officials 15 vehicles, being used to transport illegally mined sand, were impounded. Nine FIRs were lodged in connection with the illegal trade activities along with a fine amount of Rs 3.33 lakh collected from offenders.Notably, there is an annual NGT ban on sand mining which is effective throughout the state from June 10 to Oct 15. As per the NGT orders the deputy commissioners of respective districts have been assigned the task for the implementation of the prohibitory orders.Officials said Rs 15 lakh has been collected in penalties by the mining department for illegal trade of sand and stone chips from April 1 this year. As many as 91 cases have been lodged along 24 FIRs. The officials have seized 66 vehicles in the past few months in this connection.Satyarthi also called for better coordination between various govt departments when raids are conducted against sand mafias, so that those involved can be weeded out completely.He also directed officials to ensure that in the brick kilns operating in the district no minors are employed. A strict vigil must be kept on the workforce of the kilns as there were allegations that few were violating rules and hiring minors at cheaper rate, the DC added.