TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: With Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar expressing his reluctance to implement the ban on sand mining ordered by the National Green Tribunal–given that it is an important ingredient in construction–youth from St Estevam have decided to implement the ban and have stopped trucks ferrying sand in the dead of the night, making them unload the sand there itself.
The bold move was made by a group called FORO Boys on Saturday midnight. They later proudly presented their achievement by hoisting a banner atop the seized sand declaring their achievement, which they said took place “while the police sleep”.
When Herald spoke to Old Goa police inspector, he said the police were not intimated about the incident.
Earlier in the assembly, the chief minister while replying to a calling attention motion on the sand issue had termed the NGT order on sand extraction as judicial overreach and that the order was ‘unimplementable’.
He had also said that he would issue directions to police not to act against sand extraction and transportation and that it should be done only by the Mines
Department officials.
Reports have been coming in that sand mining is also taking place in Curtorim with as many as 10 trucks plying per day allegedly by a panch from the local village panchayat.
The unanimous sentiment of the house was that sand mining should be allowed to continue and this has in fact emboldened the sand miners when the NGT order only prohibits those who do not have an environmental clearance from the state environment impact authority.
