Probe Uncovers Illegal Mining by Bekem Infra in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: A probe conducted by the revenue and mines departments of AP has found that Bekem Infra Projects Private Limited had illegally excavated six lakh cubic metres of red gravel from 20.95 acres of land without obtaining any permission from the state government.

The report submitted by Eluru district magistrate to Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan’s office stated: “Bekem Infra obtained permission to excavate 36,107 cubic metres of red gravel from 6.18 acres in revenue survey number 425 of IS Jagannadhapuram village. However, the firm did not extract any gravel from the permitted area. Instead, it obtained permission to excavate 36,107 cubic metres of red gravel from 1.48 acres within the same revenue survey number. Apart from excavating 33,637 cubic metres of red gravel, the company illegally excavated 6.15 lakh cubic metres of red gravel from 20.95 acres in the same revenue survey number without obtaining any permission.”

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who holds the panchayat raj, forest and environment portfolios, had ordered the Eluru district magistrate to conduct a probe into the rampant mining activity he observed near the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple during his recent visit to launch Deepam 2.0 in IS Jagannadhapuram village.

In the report, the Eluru district magistrate said the district administration would serve notices to Bekem Infra for illegal red gravel mining and misleading authorities by registering false details, claiming they conducted the mining in areas for which they had obtained permission. Similarly, show-cause notices will be served to revenue and mines department officials for failing to prevent unchecked mining in the district.

Incidentally, Pawan Kalyan has also directed officials of the forest department to investigate the destruction of greenery and biodiversity due to unregulated mining in the Jagannadhapuram area and submit a report.