The State Revenue Department on Monday set on fire 45 fibre boats used by the sand mafia for illegal dredging along the Vaitarna river in Virar.
The action followed complaints by residents of Wadhiv-Vaitipada village with Palghar Collector Abhijit Bangar, on illegal sand mining.
The dredging had destroyed the boundary wall of the village. The Collector sent a team led by Shivaji Davbhat, sub-divisional officer, Palghar, to take action.
The government had banned sand mining within 600 metres of a rail bridge over the river after rampant mining had weakened the bridge in 2014, and had to be repaired.
Only traditional sand mining metjods are allowed, in which would dive into the river and extract sand in buckets.
But the powerful builder lobby, active in Mumbai, Thane and Vasai, encouraged the suction method, which uses huge motor pumps to extracting sand form the river bed. This had damaged the rail bridge, said Pravin Nalawade, a resident of Vaitarna village.
Due to the damage to the bridge, Western Railway had imposed a speed limit of 20 kmph for trains passing over the bridge for two years. It was only in April 2016 that repair work on the bridge was completed.
Despite the ban on sand mining within 600 metres of the important rail link connecting Mumbai with Delhi and Ahmedabad, mining continues to take place even after the bridge has been repaired, said Mr. Davbhat.
The villages surrounding Vaitarna river like Khanivade, Hedvade, Chimne, Kashid, Khardi, Kopar, Kandip are also covered under the ban as they are located near the rail bridge, he said, adding action will be taken against the sand mafia under the National Security Act, 1980 as the bridge is a vital link to national growth.
“We will continue this campaign against illegal sand mining and will also seize the illegal sand mined from the river,” said Mr. Davbhat.
