River sand has now become so precious that it is being transported in small quantities on not only motorcycles, but also bicycles, concealed in cement bags.
The Mysuru district police, which have been maintaining a vigil against illegal extraction of sand from the riverbed, now has to contend with the illegal transportation of stealthily extracted sand in bullock carts, motorcycles and bicycles.
“We have seized several goods autorickshaws, motorcycles and even bicycles engaged in illegal transportation of sand”, said Prakash Nikam, Assistant Superintendent of police in Nanjangud, adding that the bullocks of the seized carts were being sent to Pinjrapole in the city.
Meanwhile, the supply of sand from Mangaluru to Mysuru too has stopped accentuating the crisis“Sand supply from Mangaluru has been affected because of the monsoon”, said Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha said, adding that Hassan district administration has assured to send 50 truckloads of sand per day.
However, the disruption in supply of sand from Mangaluru appears to have led to a spurt in illegal extraction of sand from the river bed of Cauvery and its tributaries in Mysuru. “We have seized some iron boats used in T. Narsipur a few days ago. We are on an alert against possible resumption of illegal mining”, Superintendent of Mysuru district police Abhinav Khare told The Hindu .
Inspector of T. Narsipur police station Manoj Kumar said they had seized a total of 20 iron boats, used in the extraction of sand from the river, in Kempayyanahundi and Mannehundi five days ago. “The boats were submerged in the waters. Sand is extracted stealthily and loaded into various vehicles and transported to different destinations”, he said adding that people have now started collecting sand from the riverbed in cement bags and transporting them on cycles.
