The villagers residing near the KRFA allege that hundreds of tippers are shuttling in and out of the KRFA playing havoc with their lives. They have demanded officials to take strict action. When media entered the scene to figure out what were the tippers doing in the reserved forest area, shocking details have emerged. A clandestine illegal mining operation carting away fertile forest soil has been undertaken by the anti-social elements. The villagers have alleged that they had made several requests to the officials, but no action was taken because forest, revenue and mining officials are at loggerheads over the jurisdiction of the area.
The mass apathy of local officials belonging to the three departments has reportedly allowed the illegal mining and looting of forest soil to go unabated, right under their nose. Incidentally, the offices of the three departments are located in Kondapalli.
Top bosses in the departments have formed an inter-departmental team after they got wind of the ruckus going in Kondapalli. The team that went into the KRFA was left red-faced to see large deep holes being dug up and hundreds of tons of forest soil lost. They have notified that the area falls under the forest department. Last heard the top bosses in the forest department are scratching their heads about how to arrange funds to fill the holes. According to sources, four to five feet of soil is needed to fill a large expanse of land. A lorry load of soil is costing anything between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.
The land sharks are aware of the demand and are illegally mining the KRFA. In another incident, Rs 20 crore worth of soil and sand mined from the Polavaram canal project was allegedly ferried into a real estate venture being built by a private company in Nunna village. It has been stalled by the mining officials following a hue and cry over the illegal activity.
Of late, the State is abuzz with the reports and allegations of illegal sand and soil mafia ruling the roost. Why are officials turning a blind eye to excess mining of sand and soil over and above the licensed limits taking place? Can all this take place without the involvement of leaders from the ruling party?