RAIDS BY IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT TO CHECK ILLEGAL SAND TRAFFICKING

By Gargi Deb (TNI Jalpaiguri) ~ Edited By R. Subrata (TNI Siliguri)

Webdesk, TNI Dooars, 16th September, 2015: North Bengal Flood Control Commission started raids to point out the vehicles which transports sand, stones, boulders etc. illegally and by bypassing taxes to the Government. In this connection today the officials from the commission raided vehicles carrying those items from the rivers of Dooars like Diana, Raidak, etc from areas like Nagrakata, Banarhat, etc. The raid team investigated the modus operandi of those illegal operations. Sources from the Irrigation Department informed that by such raids done in Siliguri, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar the department have earned crores of taxes in the form of fine from the illegal operators. These illegal traffickers used to lift sand, stones, and boulders from the rivers without proper quarry permits, which is essential for lifting the materials from the rivers. However, in today’s raid, which was carried out at Moraghat Checkpost and Nagrakata’s Diana river bank, it was found that almost all the truck owners have brought their quarry permits along with them. The fault found was in the loading of weights. Most of the trucks were found to be over loaded, which were redirected to the Irrigation Department for further queries.