Owners of machinery used in illegal mining to be booked too

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 22

To check illegal mining effectively in the district, the Mohali administration has now issued directions to the Executive Engineer-cum-District Mining Officer to coordinate with the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) for collecting details of vehicles and other machinery being used for the unlawful activity.

“The step has been taken so that the owners of vehicles and machinery could also be booked whenever a case of illegal mining surfaces,” said Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra while issuing the directions during a meeting with the officials of various departments for implementation of the sand management system as a pilot project in the district.

She added that in case the registration number was not displayed on the vehicle/machinery and the RTA was not able to give any detail about it to the district mining officer, such vehicle/machinery would be impounded. The SDM and the RTA would coordinate for the purpose.

She said if the site of illegal mining belonged to a panchayat or some particular person/persons, then the administrator or the owner/owners, respectively, would be booked.

Earlier, representatives of a Bangalore-based firm showed a presentation regarding sand management system under which an advanced GPS technique is used to monitor transportation of sand.

The firm representatives claimed that under this system, the district administration would be able to use the geo-fencing technique to check the quantity of sand excavated. It would also help in collecting information about the vehicles loaded at the site.

Sapra also directed the officials to submit detailed suggestions about the system. Later, a report would be sent to the government for implementation of the system as a pilot project.

Legal action against land owner too

• Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra has directed the Executive Engineer-cum-District Mining Officer to coordinate with the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) for collecting details of vehicles and other machinery being used for illegal mining.

• The direction was issued during a meeting with the officials of various departments for implementation of the sand management system as a pilot project in the district. 

• In case the registration number was not displayed on the vehicle/machinery, these will be impounded.

• If the site of illegal mining belongs to a panchayat or some particular person/persons, then the administrator or the owner/owners, respectively, will be booked.