The suspension of a constable attached to the GD Nellore police station in Chittoor district on the charges of having links with illegal sand operators on Saturday night created a flutter among the police circles. On the other hand, the officials have intensified patrolling and surveillance on the national highways and rural roads, vulnerable to sand smuggling.
The prime zone of illegal sand transportation in Satyavedu circle came under the police scanner on Sunday, following SP Ch. Venkata Appala Naidu’s warning that severe action would be initiated against anyone involving in illegal sand transportation. It was for the first time that a policeman faced action over the sand issue in the district.
The SP is said to have formed a special team to identify the departmental staff, who are facing allegations of cooperating with sand smuggling operators.
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Varadaiahpalem SI Hari Prasad said that the Srikalahasti-Tada road connecting to Chennai NH was being kept under surveillance. The forest route connecting the sand reach near Srikalahasti with the NH had also been brought under round-the-clock inspection by the police.
“Barring a few incidents of illegal sand lifting for domestic purposes, 90% of the menace is under control. Now, we are insisting on production of official permits for lifting sand from the reaches and its transportation.” The inter-State transportation of sand stopped completely, he said.
During the last six months, the Satyavedu circle witnessed heavy incidence of illegal sand lifting from rivulets. In Satyavedu, two lorries were seized in recent months. The Sri City police also confiscated sand-laden vehicles in recent weeks. Varadaiahpalem police seized 17 tractors and handed them over to the Revenue Department in the last four months.
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‘Misconception’
Currently, a ₹2 crore World Bank-funded project of widening and deepening of a tank in Kambakkam forests was going on. “Lifting of gravel from the tank bed and transporting the same for dumping purpose has led to rumours of sand mafia operating in the region,” Mr Hari Prasad said.
Meanwhile, the police elsewhere in the district, particularly in the Madanapalle revenue division with its number of dried-up riverbeds and rivulets, have stepped up patrolling to take on sand smuggling operators.