The AP government has stated that 46.52 lakh cubic meters of sand have been illegally mined in 465.36 hectares and exploited in AP in the last four years of YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s regime. The government has submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court to this effect. The government has estimated the sand exploitation through Google Earth Pro images.
The AP government has registered 13 FIRs and issued show cause notices to various organizations in about 63 cases. It is known that the Green Tribunal had previously given a verdict against JP Ventures on illegal sand mining and imposed a fine of about Rs. 18 crore on it.
With this, JP Ventures approached the Supreme Court against the Green Tribunal verdict. The state government has recently filed an affidavit as per the orders issued by the Supreme Court on September 13. The AP government has brought sand irregularities to light using GD stereo data and 2D Google Earth Pro images in its 329 pages affidavit.
“We are conducting a study using satellite images through the AP Space Application Center (APSAC) to identify illegal mining in areas with sand resources across the state. This organization is providing scientific and technical support based on cutting-edge geospatial technologies” it said.
“We are continuing the study using GD stereo data and 2D Google Earth Pro images. We have provided the geo coordinates of 478 sand reaches across the state to APSAC for an in-depth study. So far, 135 areas where illegal sand mining has taken place have been identified. Further analysis is underway on this”, it added.
As per the affidavit submitted on August 23, it said they have issued show cause notices to JPVL in 9 cases and demand notices for Rs. 916.19 crore. In addition, issued show cause notices to JPVL, GCKC and Pratima in 27 cases.
Keeping in view the seriousness of the crimes committed by these organizations and the damage caused by it, the state mines department wrote a letter to the DGP on October 18, appealing to him to take swift action to investigate and punish them.
In addition, the affidavit stated that they have taken disciplinary action against the district mines and underground resources department officials who failed to stop illegal sand mining in East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur and Palnadu districts.
“We have already issued show cause notices to all the officials. We are also conducting an ACB inquiry into the activities surrounding illegal sand mining. We are taking all kinds of steps to control illegal sand mining in the state. We have launched the AP Sand Management Portal to bring transparency in this matter and stop illegal mining and transportation,” the government said in the affidavit.