Mangaluru, Apr 23: Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim on Thursday said that a total of 205 lorries and trucks transporting sand had been seized by the district administration in various taluks in a crackdown, for violating regulations while transporting their cargo.
Briefing mediapersons at a press conference at his office here on Thursday, Mr Ibrahim said that the lorries flouting various sand transportation and mining norms had been seized during a joint operation conducted by the district administration on Monday and Tuesday. A total of 45 lorries illegally transporting sand were seized in Mangaluru taluk, 34 lorries in Belthangady taluk, 36 in Puttur taluk, 46 in Bantwal taluk, 15 lorries in Moodbidri taluk, 28 lorries in Sullia and one in Kadaba limits in a series of raids conducted over a period of two days, he said.
In the past month from March 15 to April 15, a total of 47 cases of illegal sand transportation were booked with a total fine of Rs 5.83 lakhs. A total of 35 cases of sand transportation with excess load, four cases of illegal sand mining in unauthorised places and six cases of illegal sand transportation to Kerala were booked across the district during this time, he informed.
Mr Ibrahim said that the district administration had collected royalty fees of Rs 1.75 crores, administrative charges of Rs 1.16 crores and Rs 2.92 lakhs through Special Sand Permits from March 15 to April 15.
The deputy commissioner also informed that as many as 500 officials from various departments had been authorised to inspect and halt instances of illegal sand mining and transportation. The district administration is making efforts to put an end to unlawful sand mining in Dakshina Kannada, but the illegal mining is yet to be fully curbed despite best efforts, he said.
He told mediapersons that a total of 19 sand blocks had been identified in the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) and 38 sand blocks had been identified in the non-CRZ region in the district. A total of 168 permits to carry out sand mining had been issued by the district administration in the two rivers – Gurupura and Nethravathi – in the 185 acres identified in the non-CRZ region, while an area of 330 acres had been earmarked in the CRZ region.
He further said that several regulations and precautionary measures had been put into place to check illegal sand mining and transportation such as setting up six checkposts in the district, banning sand transportation in 10-wheeler trucks and issuing compulsory weigh-slips for ever truck or lorry transporting sand.
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