Jagatsinghpur, June 29 (UDN): In one of the biggest crackdowns on illegal sand storage in recent times, the Jagatsinghpur district administration on Sunday seized illegally stockpiled sand worth more than Rs 1 crore from Shankharisahi under Biridi block.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, officials conducted a raid at the site and discovered that over 500 truckloads of sand had been unlawfully stored on government land. The entire stockpile was subsequently seized.
To maintain law and order and safeguard the seized material, the administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in and around the area. Police personnel have been deployed to keep a close watch and prevent any attempts to remove or tamper with the seized sand.
Jagatsinghpur Sub-Collector Prasant Kumar Tarai said there is no legal provision allowing individuals to extract sand from various sources and store it on government land for commercial purposes.
“We received reliable information regarding the illegal stockpiling of a huge quantity of sand on government land. Following verification, a raid was conducted and the entire stock was seized. Since no individual has claimed ownership of the sand so far, it will be disposed of through a public auction as per government norms,” Tarai said.
He further stated that if the persons responsible for the illegal storage are identified, legal action would be initiated against them under relevant provisions of the BNSS. The proceeds from the auction will be deposited in the government treasury.
The district administration has intensified its enforcement drive against illegal sand mining and storage, which continue to pose environmental and regulatory challenges across several parts of Odisha.
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