Rs 22.8 crore worth of illegal sand seized

Yadgiri: In three separate cases over the past two weeks, the department of mines and geology seized 2.7 lakh metric tonnes of illegally stocked sand worth Rs 22.8 crore along the Krishna River. On Feb 18, officials raided villages, including Choudeshwara Halla, Hemmadagi, Karnal and Addodagi in Surpur taluk, seizing 2 lakh metric tonnes of sand worth Rs 17.9 crore stored across 22 lands. Cases were registered against 22 landowners at Surpur police station. On Feb 27, a raid in Haiyal (B) of Vadagera taluk led to the seizure of 2,800 metric tonnes of sand worth Rs 23.8 lakh, and a case was booked against Yankamma Mallappa. In another case, 63,533 metric tonnes of sand worth Rs 5.4 crore was found illegally stocked on land in Tonnur of Shahapur taluk. A case was registered at Shahapur police station on March 2. Additionally, four excavators worth Rs 15 lakh each, allegedly used for illegal sand mining in Hemmadagi village limits, were seized. Senior geologist Veeresh Shantappa said landowners were renting out fields for illegal sand storage would have royalty dues added to their RTC records. He noted the practice has continued for over a decade, with some farmers accepting Rs 3-4 lakh, and letters were sent to tahsildars to recover govt losses.