Hassan: Officials of the PWD and even the police are in collusion with the illegal sand mining mafia to help it in its operations on the river Hemavathy in Sakleshpur, Hassan , causing a loss of crores to the state exchequer in the process, says a report by a member of the Karnataka Development Programme Inspection Committee, Devaraje Gowda.
Speaking to the DC, Mr Gowda, who inspected a 40- km stretch of the river for his report, said illegal sand mining flourished here owing to the nexus between officials of the public works and revenue departments as well as the police and politicians with the miners. “All of them have a share in the illegal business,” he claimed.
Mr Gowda, who wants a thorough investigation into the matter, says PWD officials often grant the illegal sand miners fake permits created at various cyber centres in Hassan. "Even the software used for issuing permits has been faked,” he said.
Although surveillance cameras are installed at the sand mining points, the officials concerned have covered the cameras to stop any of the illegal miners from being caught, he reveals, adding, “Some surveillance cameras have been manipulated to get blurred images of the sand sites.”
His report also says that trucks fitted with GPRS are used only once for transporting the sand and the GPRS number is used for other trucks ,which do not have GPRS, to transport more of it, mainly to Bengaluru, where it fetches Rs 70,000 a load.
“PWD officials deliberately avoid putting the official seal on the permits so the trucks can do more trips to help the illegal business thrive in Hassan. For every illegal load of sand transported, PWD officials could possibly be making as much as Rs 6,000 to 8,000, while police and revenue officers may be taking home Rs 3,000 a load,” he claimed.
Mr Gowda wants the criminal cases filed against those involved in sand mining to be transferred from the PWD to the department of Mines and Geology for a more reliable investigation into the matter.
