(Express Photo by Deepak Daware) Illegal sand mining on the Godavari riverbed. (Express Photo by Deepak Daware)The Gadchiroli administration has issued showcause notices to six sand mines in Sironcha asking why their leases should not be cancelled in the wake of the violations that have come to fore during the raids on February 11. The raids were conducted jointly by Revenue and police officials following The Indian Express expose. So we have issued showcause notices returnable by February 28 to six of these mines as to why their leases should not be cancelled,” said Additional Collector, Aheri, Mahesh Awhad. The Revenue officials have slapped a fine of Rs 7.2 lakh on the leasees for the violations.

Source: Indian Express February 19, 2017 23:15 UTC