Admn slaps ₹27 cr penalty on three for illegal mining

Indore: Indore district administration on Tuesday slapped a penalty of Rs 27.22 crore on three persons involved in illegal mining on govt land in Amlikheda village of Indore district.
ADM Gaurav Benal said public works department had last year given permission to M/S Madhav Infra for mining 35,000 cubic metre of murrum at 0.147 hectare out of 4.047 hectare govt land in Amlikheda village at Khasra (plot) Number 1.The illegal mining came to light when the agency was stopped from mining by three persons — Shobharam Bhuriya, Mahadev Chouhan, and Harinarayana Narvariya — since they were engaged in illegal mining at the same spot.
The agency complained about the trio to mining department. “Acting on the complaint, the mining department carried out an inspection at the spot and seized an earthmover engaged in illegal mining,” the ADM said, adding that further investigation revealed that the accused had carried out illegal mining of 90,471 cubic metre of murrum.
“As per calculation, a total penalty of Rs 27.22 crore has been slapped on the three accused while the seized vehicle will be put up for auction and the sale amount will be adjusted in the penalty,” he said.
In another incident, the mining department has seized a dumper and an earthmover engaged in illegal mining in Baroli village. A case was registered. “It’s the second case of illegal mining at the same place, where a case was earlier registered, and the accused were issued a notice to pay a total penalty of around Rs 140 crore. We are examining if the same accused are involved in illegal mining this time also,” the ADM said.