Ghaispura: Illegal sand mining from the bed of river Baitarani has been going on in various parts of Anandapur sub-division in Keonjhar district while the administration is allegedly looking the other way.
The mafia has been extracting truckloads of sand at Padmapur ghat everyday, causing huge loss of revenue to the state exchequer. It was alleged that some unscrupulous tehsil officials have been helping the mafia get away with sand before conducting raids there.
A couple of days ago, some media persons had seen sand being loaded in three tractors and alerted the additional tehsildar. But the tractors soon sped away.
On the other hand, leaseholders of the sand ghat are incurring losses.
Locals alleged the inaction against the mafia has encouraged the latter’s morale. They wondered how the administration allows such illegality to happen at the cost of the state coffers.
If the administration becomes strict and takes action against the mafia, the government would be able to get huge revenue from sand quarrying. PNN