Udupi: The Brahmavar special Tahsildar and a team of officials from the district administration raided the banks of Seetha river at Mabukala where sand was being mined under the bridge, here on Tuesday, May 24.
The raid was coordinated on the instructions of deputy commissioner Dr R Vishal, Tahsildar Thippeswamy and a team from the district Department of Mines and Geology. 12 Tippers and 36 sand carrying boats were seized.
Sand mining, being taken up in large scale near the Mabukala Bridge, poses grave threat to the bridge. The local complained to the deputy commissioner Dr Vishal about the illegal sand mining. Responding to the complaints, the deputy commissioner instructed the Tahsildar to conduct the raid. During the raid, it was found that sand mining was being done in violation of the rules formulated by the district administration.
The team immediately seized 8 loaded tippers, 4 tippers parked for loading sand and also 36 sand carrying boats. Later, the owners of the tippers paid the penalty and had their vehicles released.
Revenue officer Jayaram Shetty, Airody panchayat president Moses Rodrigues, village accountant Cheluvaraju, PDO Jayaram Shetty, Department of Mines and Geology officer Mahesh and the Kota police took part in the raid.