Hyderabad: Telangana BJP leader Gottimukkula Suresh Reddy was taken into custody on Thursday, for carrying out ‘sand mining’ in a restricted area of Manair.
According to the police, National Green Tribunal (NGT) order states that the extraction of sand from the Manair river has been prohibited without getting environmental clearance.
The NGT earlier had asked the Telangana Mineral Development Corporation (TMDC) to restrict sand extraction in the river after a group of concerned citizens, under the banner of Manair Parirakshana Samithi fought to protect the environment in the surrounding area of the Manair river.
Samithi president Karunakar Reddy earlier called upon villagers to take part in the Deeksha to prevent illegal extraction of sand in Odella Mandal.
When the authorities failed to implement the NGT order, and the extraction of sand continued unabated, Manair Parirakshna Samithi organised a sit-in for Deeksha.
However, the police managed to reach the spot and stopped the mining, took the leader under custody, and shifted him to Sultanabad police station.
Suresh reddy later shared a video of his arrest on his Twitter account asking “Is the government and the police there for the people or for the criminals? The police is rejecting the court order.”
In June 2022, sand contractors in Karimnagar were illegally excavating sand from canals, rivers, and streams in the area by exerting political pressure and colluding with local revenue and police authorities.
The illegal mining ultimately led to a huge loss to the government exchequer and the pits in the ground created by excessive mining are dangerous to the public’s safety with school-going children losing their lives while trying to swim in the pits of water.
The Telangana State Human Rights Commission (TSHRC) then ordered an enforcement officer to enquire into the illegal sand mining issue in the district.
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