Anandapur: The sand mafia is ruling the roost in Baliapal under Ghasipura tehsil in Keonjhar district. Rampant sand mining from the bed of river Remala has posed a serious threat to embankments, causing concern among the people living in riparian pockets.
The government is losing huge revenue due to the illegal sand mining every year. Locals have accused the revenue department of being lax towards the problem.
Reports said the tehsil has not auctioned the river ghats so far this year. Non-auction of river ghats has provided an opportunity for the mafia to loot sand from the riverbed near Mangalpur Tota and Kathapal Ashram School.
Locals alleged that the mafia has engaged machines to carry on sand mining throughout the year.
It is said that as the monsoon is drawing closer, they have made mountains of sand to continue their business in the rainy season. A major portion of their sand is supplied to scores of local contractors and those in Kalinganagar area of Jajpur district.
Locals alleged such illegal activities are going on under the very nose of local revenue inspectors and tehsil staff. They accused the officials of receiving ‘cuts’ from the sand mafia.
This illegal business is going on despite the fact that the water resources department has carried out stone-packing of the embankments by spending lakhs of rupees.
As the mafia mines sand close to the embankments, they are getting weakened. In the past, the locals had, time and again, drawn the attention of the tehsil authorities to the unlawful sand mining, but the latter has allegedly never taken any step to check the irregularity.
