PANJIM: While admitting that sand mining activities have halted at many erstwhile hotspots, NGO Goa Foundation on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court at Goa that new areas have cropped up, where the illegal mining of sand is rampantly underway.
In an affidavit filed before the Court, the Goa Foundation said that illegal sand mining continues at two places- Curtorim and Chandor- despite
24×7 deployment of police patrols.
The new places include- Bicholim, Chorao Island in Tiswadi, Talarna in Pernem and Revora in Bardez. The petitioner has attached HERALD news reports that have extensively exposed the illegal sand mining activities in Chorao and Talarna.
“Sand mining has stopped at many of the hotspots pointed out to the authorities in prior months, due to the combined effect of the orders passed by this Court from time to time, and the enforcement of the circular introduced by the police regarding illegal sand mining,” the petitioner said.
“However, illegal sand mining activities continue at two places despite 24×7 police patrolling deployment. In addition, some new areas have cropped up where sand mining activities have been ramped up in the past few weeks,” it added.
The NGO informed the Court that illegal sand extraction in the River Chapora at Revora is in close proximity to the home of a local resident, putting his property and family at great risk of the river bank collapsing. Numerous complaints have been made by the individual to the authorities; however, no action appears to have been taken on these complaints.
“We request that round-the-clock patrolling be deployed at the specified areas of Bicholim, Chorao, Talarna and Revora, as the same has proven to be significantly effective in reducing illegal sand mining activities,” the petitioner pleaded.
As far as the areas of Curtorim and Chandor in Salcete are concerned, the petitioner requested that the police enquire as to how sand loading/ extraction has resumed in the areas despite police deployment there and should ensure that the prohibition on illegal sand mining is enforced.
