Godhra: Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Shehera constituency and Deputy Speaker of the Gujarat Assembly, Jetha Bharwad has alleged that illegal sand mining has taken place in a lake in Khandia village of Panchmahal district due to which the state will lose revenue to the tune of Rs 24 crore.
Bharwad told IANS, “I have complained to the Chief Minister about illegal mining at a lake in Khandia village in my constituency and have demanded action against the lease miner.”
He said that for the Bharatmala road project, the contractor was permitted to mine 99,000 metric ton of sand from the lake but he instead mined 9,83,081 metric ton.
As the locals came to know that illegal mining had taken place, they carried out a physical inspection of the lake and found that the contractor had mined 1470 feet long X 741 feet wide and 22 feet deep.
The locals drew the Deputy Speaker’s attention to the illegal sand mining and the latter has written to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel demanding action in the matter.
However, Panchmahal District Collector Sujal Mayatra said he has not received any letter from the BJP MLA or instructions from the Chief Minister’s Office about illegal mining in Khandia village.
He added, “Whenever we receive such complaints of illegal mining, we send two teams — one team is from the Geology department and other from the Revenue department which carry out the inspection. If illegal mining comes to the notice of the team, a notice is issued and royalty is recovered with penalty.”
