VIJAYAWADA: Despite the State government imposing a ban on sand mining until the new policy comes into force, some contractors are going ahead with quarrying in a brazen violation of the government’s order.
On Thursday night, a few persons were caught red-handed while mining sand at reaches in remote villages under Tiruvuru, Vuyyur and Kanchikacherla mandals.
On a tip-off from villagers, the police raided the places, seized tractors and took five persons into custody.
Krishna district Superintendent of Police (SP) M Ravindranath Babu formed special teams to curb illegal sand mining in villages. Two teams of the Kanchikacherla police raided S Amaravaram village on Thursday night and seized illegally stocked sand. “The contractors were involved in illegally mining sand from Munneti Canal in the village and storing the same in godowns. Sand and vehicles used for mining were seized and the accused were taken into custody,” said CI Satish.
Same is the situation in Karakatta villages of Vuyyur mandal. By colluding with officials of the Revenue department, contractors are mining sand from the reaches and selling it at high prices in the black market.
“We have received complaints about sand mining in Karakatta villages late on Thursday night. Special patrol teams will keep vigil in sensitive areas,” the Vuyyur police said.