The issue of illegal sand extraction dominated the general body meeting of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat (ZP) here on Wednesday.
Raising the issue, Suresh Batwady, member, said that the zilla panchayat should condemn the attack on Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis and her team, when they raided an illegal sand extraction unit at Kandlur on April 3. The government should allow traditional sand extraction in the district. Transportation of sand from the district to other districts should be stopped, he said.
Pratap Shetty, member, said that the incident showed that an illegal sand extraction mafia operated in the district. Law and order had collapsed completely in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The State government had failed in dealing with this matter.
The insensitive statements of Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, showed that he had little interest in solving the problem.
The problem had started only because Mr. Madhwaraj was bent on closing a sand extraction unit near Brahmavar, he said.
Reshma Shetty, member, said that in the last meeting, the members had pointed out that officers of various departments had turned a blind eye to various illegal sand extraction units. This being the case, Ms. Francis had no other option but to conduct surprise raids. Her courage and sincerity had to be appreciated, she said.
Janardhan Tonse, member, said that the issue should not be politicised. Babu Shetty, member, demanded to know how people could get sand in the district.
Intervening, Ms. Francis said that nearly 90 truckloads of sand seized during raids were available at the New Sand Yard in Kundapur. A team of experts from NITK-Surathkal was looking into the issue of sand extraction in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas of the district.
The administration was trying to get the stay order on sand extraction in sand blocks in non-CRZ areas vacated. The Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada had agreed to provide sand on demand basis on request from the administration. Meanwhile, three manufactured sand (m-sand) units had been sanctioned in Karkala taluk, she said.
Mr. Pratap Shetty said that the people of the district were unlikely to take to m-sand. N. Vishnuvardhana, Additional Superintendent of Police, said that the police had arrested 20 persons with regard to the attack on Ms. Francis and her team, while five persons had been externed. Security bonds had been secured from 160 persons, he said.
When members said that the real kingpins of sand extraction should be arrested instead of workers in illegal sand units, Mr. Vishnuvardhana said that the police would get to the root of the case.
