Illegal sand lifting from Gopalpur Port to Bangladesh; BJP protest

Report by Rajeev Lochan Rathan; Berhampur: The Ganjam district BJP unit protest in front of Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) Southern Division of the Revenue against illegal sand lifting to other country from Gopalpur Port on Sutarday.

Allegedly,a ship carries about 50 thousand tonnes sand lifted from different rivers flows in Ganjam and Gajapati district at Gopalpur port.In this connection a memorandum was given to RDC Berhampur.

Illegal sand lifting from the beds of Rusikulya, Dhanei, Bahuda, Ghoda Hada and Harabhangi rivers of the districts as the local administration is not taking any legal action against the lifters.

BJP Ganjam district Legal Cell Convenor Ram Patro said, around 80 truckloads of sand are lifted from local rivers bed every day, and it has been going on from morning to evening for the last three days. “We strongly protested against illegal sand lifting from the rivers bed, but the lifters did not listen to us. We came to know that those sand are export to Bangladesh through ship namely “Hai Phong 25” he said,

“Such holes cause erosion during the rainy season,” he said, adding that we have inform several times to the local administration, requesting them to take legal action against the lifters.Today,we demand to take stern action against illegal sand lifting immediately, and the administration need always be active against this malpractice.

Social activist Saswati Subhra Das said, that the government is losing out on revenue. The rivers banks being cut, which can cause erosion, flood and also change the course of the river. She alleges that the local government officials are hand in glove with the sand mafias to carry out the illegal activity.

Comments are closed.