PERNEM
The Pernem Mamlatdar Anant Malik and a team from the Mines and Geology department raided an illegal sand extraction site on the banks of Tiracol River at Poraskadem-Pernem on Thursday.
The team later put back 70 cubic metre of illegally extracted sand back into the river with the help of a JCB machine.
Incidentally, the action on sand extraction sites in Pernem taluka has not gone down well among those involved in the activity.
Some of the sand extractors have suspected that the action against sand extraction activity could be politically motivated as the BJP had received less votes at Poraskadem in the recent ZP polls.
They claimed that sand is one of the key ingredients in the construction business and sand extraction is necessary for the construction industry.
They claimed that then chief minister late Manohar Parrikar had promised to legalise sand business and had even supported sand excavation from the Tiracol River on grounds that it would deepen the river and enable larger boats to move along the river.
