-Outlook The Uttar Pradesh government today reluctantly admitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that illegal sand mining was going on in the state and not even a single environmental clearance granted for it in Gautam Budh Nagar district. "We (UP government) have not caught anyone till now. It's there Lordship. Yes it (illegal sand mining) is going on," the counsel, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government and its Chief Secretary, said. A five-member...
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High stakes, mega bucks fuel illegal ‘dig-load-sell’ sand business -Surojit Gupta
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Humble sand is today big business. The boom in the construction industry in the last decade has triggered a huge demand for sand, to meet which contractors, with the help of pliant state officials, have begun a dig-load-sell exercise at a frantic pace. The story of illegal loot of sand in this high-stake business is repeated in state after state. TOI spoke to several officials, activists,...
More »Panel finds rampant mining
-The Telegraph New Delhi: A Union government panel has found evidence of rampant illegal mining along the Yamuna in Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh where the suspension of an IAS officer who had cracked down on the sand mafia has snowballed into a political controversy. A three-member panel set up by the environment ministry said there has been "rampant, unscientific and illegal mining" at several sites along the river in violation...
More »Sand mining causes Yamuna to shift 500m east, threaten Noida -Vandana Keelor
-The Times of India NOIDA: The sand mafia, against which suspended IAS officer Durga Nagpal had started a campaign, has been responsible for the Yamuna shifting course about 500 metres east, posing a threat to sectors 150, 151, 153, 135, 167 and 168 of Noida. Irrigation department officials here say they have repeatedly warned the district administration about this and also filed several FIRs with the police, the last one in March...
More »Man who took on sand mafia shot dead
-The Indian Express Noida (Uttar Pradesh): A 40-year-old man, who had allegedly taken on the sand mafia operating in his village, was shot dead at his residence in Raipur village in Sector 126, Noida, on Wednesday. Family members alleged that he was murdered as he had complained against a particular family engaged in illegal sand mining. The family also claimed that the mining was being done in the same area where suspended...
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