Excavator among 11 vehicles involved in illegal mining seized in Kathua

Kathua: An excavator and 10 other Vehicles involved in illegal mining were on Friday seized by District Mineral Officer (DMO) Rajinder Singh Rana from different locations of the district.
The surprise raids were conducted at Lakhanpur, Taraf Tajawal, Keerian Gandial, Bhagtali and Nagri areas by the team of Geology and Mining with the assistance of police officials. A total of 10 vehicles and one JCB machine were seized and kept in the custody of police.
During the seizure it was found that 7 dumpers, 2 tractor trolleys and a truck were transporting crushed minerals from stone crushers without e-challans and other documents required as per the rules of the geology and mining department.
Meanwhile, over Rs. 2 lakh penalty was imposed on JCB machine for excavating raw mineral for dumping at stone crusher from unauthorized location at Gandyal without any valid permission from the department.
The DMO informed that there are 19 mineral leases in the district for supplying material at prescribed rates and over 30 stone crushers for providing crushed mineral like sand, aggregate, dust etc. but despite this some violators turn towards illegal mining.
The action was initiated on the instructions of Deputy Commissioner Kathua, Dr. Rakesh Minhas.