Ganderbal, Jan 18: Despite ban, the mining of sand is going on unabatedly in Wakura Tehsil of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal as locals here alleged that the extraction is happening under the very nose of authorities.
Local residents said that sand mafia is extracting sand from the land along a local stream which is totally illegal and nobody is there to stop them.
“We have apprised the Geology and Mining department about the issue several times but the authorities seemed least interested in curbing the illegal extraction,” they added.
Sources said that some months ago district administration had started anti-illegal sand extraction drive in Wakura but the effect of the drive waned out quickly.
‘Kashmir Images’ also accessed a video wherein illegal extraction of sand is being carried out in broad day light in the Wakura area with heavy machineries.
Local hereappealed the concerned department in particular and the district administration in general to act against the violators.
When contacted Manzoor Ahmad Dar, District Mineral officer Geology and Mining department, Ganderbal said: “We have acted against the violators and immediately stopped them from extracting sand illegally.”
“The violators had sort report from Tehsildar Wakura to turn uncultivable land into cultivable land but for us it is unauthorized .They didn’t approach us for proper permission. Any kind of such illegal mining will be dealt with iron hand,” he added.
