Villagers Oppose ‘Illegal’ Sand Mining, Detain Tractors In Odisha’s Mayurbhanj

Baripada: Agitated over rampant sand mining from the banks of Sana river and alleged inaction of the local administration, the people of a village in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district detained the tractors engaged in the transporting the sand on Saturday.

According to sources, sand smugglers have been mining in the river bank at Jalada village under Udala block of the district for a long time. They have engaged 20-25 tractors which make several trips to lift the sand on daily basis.

The villagers alleged that though they had drawn the attention of the block officials including the tehsildar, no action has been taken to stop the sand mining. Agitated over continuous sand mining, the villagers of Jalada detained some tractors on the day.

Speaking to media on the issue, Ranjit Behera, one of the villagers, said, “Some time back, the tehsildar had identified the Sana river bank near our village as reserve area and announced that sand mining is not allowed there. But sand mafia continue to engage in sand smuggling.”

“Around 25 tractors were engaged in lifting the sand from the river bank everyday. Due to the opposition by the villagers today, most of the tractors have fled. The villagers have detained 7-8 tractors,” he said.

“We have filed written complaints with block and district officials and informed them over phone many times against the mafia. But no action has been taken against the sand smugglers,” he added.

He further said, “We demand that the administration should ensure a transparent process for sand mining. We fear that rampant exploitation of the river bank for sand mining will lead to natural calamities as the water level will bring down in summer and cause flood in rainy season.”

Despite repeated attempts by Odisha Bytes to get the tehsildar’s response to the allegation, he could not be contacted over phone.