KATHUA, FEBRUARY 09(KNB): A Joint team of the Mining Department and Kathua Police, headed by District Mineral Officer, Rajinder Singh today seized 2 excavators and 4 vehicles involved in illegal mining.
Taking swift action on complaints lodged by locals and on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Kathua, Rahul Pandey, the joint team launched a crackdown at Ravi River, Sahar Khad and seized the machinery.
While giving details, the DMO informed that a total of 2100 MTs of raw material was excavated and lifted from the locations by the violators. He said “No vehicle can transport raw or finished minerals from Nallah, rivers, stone crushers and other mining places without valid documents”. For transporting such material from one place to another, approved e-challans are required, he added.
The DMO informed that some officials of the mining department also rushed to Ravi River for identification of mining spots and found that illegal mining has been done from the Punjab side in the jurisdiction of Kathua district.
All the 2 seized excavators and 4 vehicles were handed over to Police for further legal action as per the extant rules.(KNB)