KATHUA: Acting tough against illegal mining, Rs. 5 lakh penalty was imposed by District Mineral Officer Rajinder Singh on a chain excavator for digging minor minerals on the bank of Ravi River here today.
The penalty was imposed as per excavation made in the River and also by measuring pits after seizing the chain machine with the assistance of police team. The chain excavator was deployed by the owner of a stone crusher outside the limits of private lease of Bhanu Partab Singh in Ravi River at Taraf Tajwal areas for excavating and lifting River Bed Material.
The DMO informed that as per the measurement, the excavator had illegally excavated over 1900 MTs of River Bed Material from the River for crushing on stone crusher in violation of rules of the department.
District Mineral Officer further informed that the action has been taken as per the MM (DR) Act of 1957 and SRO-105 of 2016 wherein powers have been delegated to officers for controlling illegal transportation of mineral and illegal mining activities.