Remote Sensing Agency to Help AP Check Illegal Mining: Kollu Ravindra

Vijayawada: Minister for mines and geology, Kollu Ravindra, has announced plans to rope in the National Remote Sensing Agency to pinpoint illegal mining activities carried out in several areas in AP.

In a reply to the queries from members during the ‘Question Hour’ in the Legislative Council here on Tuesday, the minister said, “During 2019-24, as many as 1,766 cases on illegal mining activities were booked and a penalty of Rs.4,037 crore was imposed thereof. Out of this, only `18.06 crore was realised.” He vowed to recover the balance Rs.4,019 crore.

The MLCs who raised the questions included P Ashok Babu, D Rama Rao, P Anuradha, V Chiranjeevi Rao, B Tirumala Naidu and B Rajagopal Reddy.

The minister said the previous TD government had supplied free sand during 2014-19, and people carried sand on bullock carts and tractors to construct their houses.

The stopping of the free sand policy resulted in 40 lakh construction workers losing their source of livelihood in the last five years, he said, and alleged that nearly 130 such workers suicide for want of work.

“Though JP Ventures fixed a unit cost of sand at `475 per tonne, it never sold sand for that price. It evaded GST payment of `870 crore,” he said, and slammed the mines director who gave a ‘no objection certificate’ to the firm. “We are taking up an inquiry into the irregularities in the sand mining in the state,” he said.