Circle Officer lodge complaint in sand theft case

- Divisional commissioner took the SDO to task for the delay in action.

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad:

The divisional commissioner Sunil Kendrekar took the sub-divisional officer (SDO, of Paithan-Phulambri) Swapnil More to task in connection with the delay in action against the contractor of sandbelt in Gharegaon of Paithan tehsil.

The district administration had allotted the contract of sandbelt in February 2022 for mining (extracting) 2968 brass of sand, but the contractor Salim Patel extracted 2,334 brass more sand that the permissible limit from the belt. This came to notice during the Electron Total Station (ETS) measurement held in June. The SDO More then slapped a penalty of Rs 7.20 crore (five times the actual contract cost). Later on, no action proceeded in this regard. Kendrekar during the review ordered immediate action. More then swung into action. Accordingly, the circle officer Vaishali Kamble complained to the sand contractor Patel with Pachod Police Station under Section 379 of IPC and as per Section 21 of the Mines and Minerals Act. Further investigation is on by Pachod police station.

Despite making efforts, SDO More was not responding to the calls. It is being said that there is political pressure on him. More has served the notice to Patel and sought his explanation in 24 hours. In response to this, the contractor has also submitted an explanation. Three weeks have passed to it and the action has not been instigated in this regard. Hence the question is whether the penalty amount will be recovered from the contractor or not. Now, the divisional commissioner has intervened and has sought all the details in this regard for further action.