Acting on the media reports about illegal mining going on in some districts, the Chief Secretary on Tuesday asked the mining department officials to seize the vehicles used to ferry illegal mining materials promptly and to cancel the permits of such vehicles and the licenses of their drivers. He also asked them to seal the places where such materials are stored.
In a strict order, the Chief Secretary asked the officials concerned to capture such vehicles being used either for illegal mining or for ferrying such mining materials and to confiscate them immediately.
Besides, he stressed on FIRs being lodged against the owners and the drivers of such vehicles.
To stamp out the menace of illegal mining, he asked the officials concerned to go for raids during the night hours while assuring them of the administration/police providing them with the required protection.
The district magistrates have been asked to constitute a task force to stop the practice of illegal mining.
Besides, he ordered PAC to be deployed at the areas known for illegal mining. The DMs have been asked to constitute a police team comprising one Dy Sp, one Inspector, two sub- inspectors, two head constables and 10 constable which would patrol such areas along with the director of mining.
This aside, to ensure that the vehicles used for the illegal practice are identified from a distance, the chief secretary asked the officials to fix their colours. GPSs and Geo Informatic cell should be installed for the purpose, he suggested.
The State’s top bureaucrat asked the officials concerned to see to it that the vehicles use the entry and exit gates thus fixed by them with the time of the mining operation being confined from sunrise to sunset. The officials were also asked to audit the stock of the mined materials and to install CCTVs at all the exit and entry points meant to have the operation of the stone crushers monitored.
Besides, the stone crushers and the mining lease holders will have to seek permission from the state pollution control board before they are issued e-challans. The chief secretary ordered creation of a corpus of secret fund from which the informers can be paid.