While unabated sand mining is going on in different parts of the State, stone mining was reported in Mandideep, hardly 25 km from the State Capital.
The officials are well aware of the situation that in front of Container Corporation of India (CCI) office, a hill was razed down by the local contractor. Boulders taken out from the hill are being sold in the open market and to the contractor working inside the Corporation.
The person present at the site of excavation work, Himat Pal told that boulders taken out from the hill are being supplied to the contractor inside the Inland Container Depot (ICD) of the CCI.
Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN) that was allotted most of the land in the industrial area, claimed that the particular hill did come under it. AKVN general manager Ashok Kumar Sengar told The Pioneer that the hill did not come under the Nigam. “It might be the property of the Mandideep Municipality or the revenue department,” he added.
CEO of the Municipality, Rajesh Shrivastava said a market is proposed at the site and the proposal for acquiring the land is in progress.
When asked the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Rajesh Srivastava of Mandideep, he accepted that the process of handing over the land to the Municipality is in the process. However, when he sent his sub-ordinates at the site, he accepted that the mining being conducted at the hill was illegal.
“We have stopped the illegal mining at the site and investigating as to how this work was on at the site,” he added.
He informed that a proposal regarding establishing vegetable market at the site is proposed.