‘Alert police about illegal sand quarrying’

Commissioner of Police V.B. Kamalasan Reddy has called upon residents to inform the police on noticing any illegal quarrying, transportation or storage of sand in the district.

The top cop said farmers were leasing out their lands for storage of illegal sand to earn money, and warned here on Tuesday, that criminal cases would be registered against them for doing so. Expressing concern over depletion of groundwater along the Manair river due to illegal sand quarrying, he said villages would turn into deserts if the illegal operations were not stopped.

Mr. Reddy said cases under Preventive Detention Act would be registered against those involved in the illegal transportation of sand; the owners and drivers of the vehicles would also be booked, he added. A special police team has been constituted to check activities of sand mafia, the police chief said.