illegal mining | Penalty imposed on 2 violators

Kathua, Jan 7: Over Rs 67 lakh penalty was imposed on owners of two stone crushers for illegal mining in Ujh River here today, an official press release said.

The penalty was imposed by District Mineral Officer (DMO) Rajinder Singh after measurement of large number of pits around the stone crushers from where the minor mineral was excavated and lifted for processing.

The DMO informed that earlier several complaints and video of illegal excavation with the help of heavy JCB chain machines by the these stone crushers surfaced on the social media.

Taking cognizance of the matter, team of mineral guards was deputed by DMO to collect the data and evidences after capturing geo-tagged photos and videos of all the illegal mining sites around the stone crushers.