Tag: Sand Mafia

Protest erupted during a public grievance hearing at Gunupur area of Rayagada district. Villagers protesting sand mining in the area tried to gherao the Collector shouting slogans.

The Sarpanch of Juania Gram Panchayat in Kendrapara’s Aul block has alleged that the mafias are indiscriminately lifting sand illegally from the Kharasrota riverbed posing a great danger to the ecology.

A four-member team of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday visited the Budhabalang riverbed at Mahupura under Badasahi tehsil in Mayurbhanj for the second time to inspect the magnitude of sand theft and its environmental impacts.

Throwing an open challenge to the Police, sand mafia on Sunday attacked an Additional Tehsildar and three Revenue Inspectors (RIs) at the Rushikulya riverbed near Malijagannathpur village under Ganjam police limits.

An investigation into the incident has been launched and police have started an operation to nab the accused.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday demanded a probe against some Ministers in the Odisha government and some ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs who are allegedly in cahoots with the sand mafia in looting precious sand from the river beds with impunity.

The operational area of the mafia spans from Balibanta in the north of the Sun Temple to the Balukhand Forest Reserve area including the helipad area. Several footages has been captured that show deep trenches and uprooted trees which are the results of over-excavation. 

Angul: A man suspected to be a part of sand mafia allegedly torched the personal vehicle of Chhendipada tehsildar in the district after the latter prevented him to lift sand from river without paying revenue. The accused, identified as Priyabrat Naik alias Papu, warned the tehsildar in the evening on Monday against his order on […]

Balasore: Locals detained the Tehsildar of Jaleswar in Balasore district today for not being able to catch the sand mafia in Makidia of the district. Sources said the sand mafia had come from West Bengal to steal sand from Makidia. After receiving complaint about the incident, the Tehsildar went to nab the miscreants; however, he […]

Balasore: Eight persons from Odisha, who were detained by the West Bengal sand mafia from the Dantun area, have been freed. In apparent retaliation to the seizure of their machinery by the Odisha administration, the Bengal sand mafia had abducted eight Odia people from Dantun area yesterday, source said. All the detainees have been identified […]

Bhind (MP): A television journalist who had complained about threats to his life after he carried out a sting operation on illicit sand mining was today mowed down by a truck, officials said. Sandeep Sharma, who worked for a local news channel, had told the district administration he feared he could be killed by the […]

Jharsuguda/Balasore: Illegal sand mining activities seem to be on the rise with two different cases being reported from Jharsuguda and Balasore districts today. In one such incident, Panchapada Revenue Inspector (RI) and Assistant RI had gone to the Panchapada ghat along the Ib River in Jharsuguda after complaints of rampant sand smuggling. However, according to […]

Acting on a tip off on illegal sand mining in Birupa river, a team from Mahanga tehsil headed by Herman raided the spot and found a tractor without a registration number is carrying sand illegally.

Berhampur: Nine persons have been arrested for alleged involvement in illegal extraction and transportation of sand from the Rushikulya river bed in Ganjam district as police stepped up crackdown on the racket, a police officer said on Thursday. Nine tractors loaded with sand were seized after a police team raided the site at Jeypur under […]

Bhubaneswar: The recent unrest over illegal sand mining, subsequent public agitation and police lathi-charge on protestors in Hinjili speaks volumes about the rampant misuse of natural resources in Odisha. A day after the unrest in Ganjam district’s Kolidaspur village, Purushottampur and Hinjili revenue officials conducted a joint inspection on Monday. The move came after massive […]