With complaints of illegal sand transportation and overloading galore in the district, the Dakshina Kannada District Administration has authorised over 500 officials from different departments to check the same and seize trucks violating the rules.
Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim, who also heads the task force on sand, told presspersons here on Thursday that as many as 205 trucks were seized in massive operations carried out on Monday and Tuesday across the district.
Maximum penalty of Rs. 25,000 would be imposed on the operators under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, he said.
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With soaring demand for sand from Bengaluru region and the government directing supply of at least 200 truckloads of sand from the district every day to the region, the illegalities too are on the rise, he said. Between March 15 and April 15, the administration has booked 47 cases of illegal transportation, 35 cases of overloading, 4 cases of illegal mining and 6 cases of inter-state transportation, he said.
Besides asking forest check posts in the borders to verify documents and load weight, over 500 officials from various departments have been authorized to seize trucks violating rules. They would undertake the operations in teams, Mr. Ibrahim said. Compulsory installation of GPS on sand trucks and installation of CCTV cameras in check posts would be done in the coming days while the present focus is on curbing illegal transportation and overloading, the officer said.
Zilla Panchayat CEO P.I. Sreevidya, Deputy Director of Mines and Geology Department Ramappa and others were present.
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Measures to check illegal sand transportation :
*205 trucks seized on April 20 and 21
*Six forest check posts authorized to check documents
*Maximum penalty of Rs. 25,000 imposed on seized trucks
*Sand transportation by multi-axle trucks prohibited
*About 500 officials from different departments authorized to seize trucks