District police raid illegal sand depot

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, 10 March 2017: Dakshina Kannada District Police today raided an illegal sand mining unit and seized large quantity of sand stashed at a clandestine depot. Additional SP Vedmurty and team conducted the sand raid along with geology department staff at a place called Sirankallu near Kanyana village of Bantwal taluk.

A large sand deposit estimated to be about 45 truckloads and weighing about 450 tons was seized by the raiding party. There were no tipper trucks or other equipment found at the stock yard. Accused are yet to be identified and arrested, it is learned.

Illegal sand mining is a new bane for the district due to the rampant over harvesting, giving rise to fear that it could prove to be ecologically disastrous in the long run. River sand is used in building construction as base material in concrete mixing. With the recent boom in real estate activity, river sand mining has emerged as a lucrative business and those engaged in ruthless exploitation of this natural resource have been dubbed in media as ‘sand mafia’. District administration has lately initiated several measures to regulate this activity.

The operation was undertaken under the directions of District Superintendent of Police Bhushan Gulabrao Borase.