PONDA: At least two persons were arrested and three canoes were seized in a raid conducted against illegal sand mining at Vaghurme, Volvoi and Khandepar villages in Ponda taluka. Also, a canoe was seized at Amona in Bicholim taluka.
A flying squad team comprising Dharbandora deputy collector Kedar Naik, Ponda mamlatdar Rajesh Sakhalkar, assistant geologists of directorate of mines and geology, Sudhir Mandrekar and Nelita D Fernandes e D'Silva, head surveyor Snehal Sangelkar and marine inspector Dharmendra J Naik raided the coastal areas in Ponda and Bicholim talukas on Wednesday.
Dharbandora deputy collector Kedar Naik has said the raids would continue as per the high court directions.
The arrested labourers were handed over to the police for further action.
In March, the director of mines and geology had informed the court that deputy collector for Bicholim, Deepak Vaingankar and deputy collector for Dharbandora, Kedar Naik would be personally responsible for the complaints on sand mining for North and South Goa talukas respectively.
The names were given after the court asked the government to give the names of two deputy collectors who would be personally responsible for implementation of the court’s orders on sand mining.