KATHUA: Today, a group from the Geology and Mining department, under the direction of District Mineral Officer (DMO) Rajinder Singh Rana, began taking legal action against one JCB and fourteen vehicles involved in illicit mining and transportation. In the Mager Khad areas, a JCB machine was confiscated and fined for excavating more than 1000 MT of river bed material. Two dumpers were seized for moving minerals without e-challans, while a Mega Engineering Company tipper was detained in Hatli for lifting clay without the proper paperwork. Similarly, according to legal documents presented by the drivers of the trucks, 13 Punjab-based trucks were fined at the toll post in Lakhanpur for loading crushed aggregate and screened sand beyond the carrying capacity. The fine was collected from the trucks immediately.Tipper drivers were instructed not to engage in the unlawful or unapproved transportation of minerals during the Lakhanpur checkpoint. Instead, they were to load minerals strictly in accordance with the valid e-challans and GST bills. According to the DMO, mining guards have been assigned to all mining sites and hotspots where mining operations are conducted. He further mentioned that a permanent naka has been established in Lakhanpur to monitor dumpers heading into Punjab.
