State chief secretary HK Dwivedi today issued a guideline on the allotment of sand mining rights along river beds across the state and asked district magistrates not to auction sand mines any further, as it would now be done by the West Bengal Mining Development Corporation.
The DMs have been asked to survey and identify sand mines and then submit their reports at the state secretariat Nabanna. Digital mapping would be done for the sand mines and these would be brought under CCTV coverage. A portal would be launched for people to lodge complaints against illegal sand mines.
Till now, DMs were empowered to allot mining rights but now it will be done centrally, and the chief secretary and finance secretary will monitor the entire process. Recently, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the allotment process would be done centrally to bring transparency and accountability.
“Those allotted sand mining rights were lifting more sand and other resources four times more than legally entitled. As a result of which the state was losing revenue,” Banerjee had said.
Meanwhile, Dwivedi further asked the DMs to ensure that Covid related restrictions and norms are being strictly followed, particularly the restriction on movement from 9 pm to 5 am. A directive in this regard was issued to the DMs today.
“As the Covid situation has been brought under control the district administration has been asked to step up vigil so that situation does not aggravate,” said a source. Dwivedi’s directive has come in the wake of complaints of people flouting the night restrictions. “If people continue to flout the restrictions then Covid cases will rise and we cannot afford this as the second wave is being apprehended,” he added.
The chief secretary has already asked DMs to take action against people violating the Covid norms. Violators will have to face strict action as per provisions of the disaster management act and the IPC including fine, said the
official.