Collector starts action against sand dredgers at Thane creek

Following the footsteps of his preceder, the new Thane collector too has initiated a major drive against the illegal sand dredging on Wednesday.

The district authority seized dredging material of over Rs 2 crore and collected a fine of over Rs10 lakh.

Collector Mahendra Kalyankar on Wednesday initiated his first major drive against the dredgers.

District information officer Anirudha Ashtapure said: “The drive started early morning at Mumbra Retibunder, Ganeshghat, Ghodbunder Road and Mira Bhayander. The district has seized vehicles, suction pumps and boats worth over Rs2 crore. We have also registered criminal cases against three offenders. Our employees entered two to three kilometres inside the creek to seize barges and boats.”

There are five ports in Thane and three in Kalyan. The district employees had kept a close watch on all these ports.

“The moment we got information on illegal dredging, we raided them. We seized six barges and 11 suction pumps at Mumbra Retibunder. Some offenders threw three suction pumps into the water, locked two barges and ran away,” Ashtaputre added.

The authority has seized two suction pumps and 14 vehicles in Mothagaon Kalyan and also imposed a fine of Rs4 lakh on the owners.

The authorities have registered a case against Satish Shedge in Khadakpada police station in Kalyan.

Apart from this, cases were also registered against two unknown persons.

The authorities seized 19 sand and pebble trucks from Mira Bhayander, coming from Palghar and Gujarat and collected a fine of Rs6 lakh.

PRAFUL GANGURDE Officials at the drive against sand dredgers on Wednesday.