Mangaliuru (TNN): The Dakshina Kannada district administration has further upped the ante against illegal transportation of sand and overloading of trucks carrying this mineral. Taking the sand lobby head on, the district administration has authorized over 500 officials from the government departments to check the same and empowered them to seize trucks violating the rules. The administration has also authorized six forest check posts to check documents of vehicles.
Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim, also head of the district task force on sand, told reporters on Thursday that as many as 205 trucks have been seized in continuous and concerted operations carried out on the trot at the start of the week across the district. "We will impose maximum penalty of Rs 25,000 on the operators who are guilty of violating permit conditions and for overloading under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act," Ibrahim said.
Observing that demand for sand from the Bengaluru and adjoining region is on the rise, Ibrahim said government has directed the administration to ensure supply of at least 200 truckloads of sand from the district every day to the region. This has also given spurt to illegalities, he said adding from March 15 and April 15, administration has booked 47 cases of illegal transportation, 35 cases of overloading, four cases of illegal mining and six cases of inter-state transportation.
Noting that the task force has also banned transportation of stand in multi-axle trucks, Ibrahim said forest check posts in the borders are now authorized to verify documents and load weight in addition to 500 authorized to seize trucks violating rules. They officials will act as a team in this endeavor, DC said. Compulsory installation of GPS on trucks that transport and installation of CCTV cameras at check posts too will be done in the near future, Ibrahim asserted.
