GUNTUR : Guntur district administration has increased vigil to prevent illegal sand mining and transportation. Following the instructions of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal to prevent illegal sand mining, Guntur Collector Venugopal Reddy, along with district sand committee officials, inspected a few sand reaches in the district and conducted a review meeting.
Recently, a survey was conducted following the Supreme Court’s order on May 10, which sought a report from the ministry on the allegation that sand mining in Krishna and Guntur areas continued with impunity, in violation of the prohibition.
In the report, the ministry said it conducted physical inspections of six and five sites in the erstwhile Krishna and Guntur districts and found non-compliance of the NGT’s order. Following this, the district sand committee visited Munnangi, Bommuvanipalem 14, 15 sand reaches in Kollipara mandals and inspected the current situation.
He informed that as per NGT’s instructions, mechanised mining is prohibited and special integrated action teams including officials from mining, revenue, and police departments would be formed to monitor the sand mining round-the-clock. The police were instructed to take action and file cases against the responsible persons and take stern action without fail. A district level control room has been set up at the collectorate and people can report about illegal sand mining by contacting 0863-2234301.