Udupi administration set to curb illegal sand mining says DC

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, April 5, 2017: Udupi Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis said that task force committee meeting would convened immediately to decide on stringent action against the illegal sand miners.

Speaking to reporters, the DC said that there has been no set back. The administration is more determined  to completely thwart the illegal sand mining activities in the district. The overall support received from all sections of the society has enhanced the confidence and boosted the determination, she said. The support has poured in irrespective of party affiliations. The administration is all set to look way forward to embark on  plans to put an end to the illegal activities.

She said the police have promised all cooperation and the culprits will be tackled effectively by the department. She also expressed her ignorance over the medico legal case filed by one Bhaskar Sherigar, who was thrashed by the gunman. The investigation is underway and everyone involved would be booked under law, she said.

Meanwhile the zilla panchayat strongly condemned the attack and said the culprits should be arrested at the earliest. Zilla panchayat president Dinaker Babu said that sand mafia should be curbed at any cost. The house will extend all support. He said the failure of the government to put forth suitable sand policy has resulted in the dreadful incident. Repeated complaints over the illegal sand mining forced the officers to take the measure, which is laudable, he said.  Member Babu Shetty said the checkposts set up across the border areas adjoining Bhatkal and Hosnagar have failed to curb the transportation of sand illegally.


’Sand mafia under ministers’ noses :

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on april 4, Tuesday suspected the role of PWD Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa and Udupi District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj behind unabated sand mafia that has now gone to extent of attacking the Udupi DC

Referring to the attack on Udupi DC Priyanka Mary Francis, he said, "While the name of Mahadevappa is doing rounds behind the illegal activity, the Udupi district in-charge minister has spoken in favour of the mafia, which is enough to say that state ministers have been involved in the irregularities."

Following the incident, a dangerous situation has been created in Udupi, thanks to the anarchy that has dented the prospects of undivided DK district, regarded as the land of intelligentsia. Calling the Congress-led government in the state as "goonda government," Kateel said the dispensation is at the mercy of sand and land mafia. He said youth like Praveen Poojary and Karthik Raj (who were killed in separate incidents in Udupi and Ullal respectively) were hacked to death, yet the government has turned a blind eye.