Margao: Illegal sand transportation continues unabated in Curtorim. A day after several sand-laden trucks were intercepted by locals and handed over to police, Maina-Curtorim police seized another truck and arrested its driver in the wee hours of Wednesday for transporting illegally mined sand.Police arrested the driver, Valentino Fernandes (46), and seized sand worth Rs 25,000 at Khorje. The truck was carrying 10 cu m of sand, police said. The sand was allegedly extracted from the river and ferried by truck.A case has been registered against the accused, a resident of Sao Jose de Areal, under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 21 of the Mines and Minerals Act.The latest seizure came a day after locals intercepted at least eight trucks in the same area and called the police. Villagers say sand has been clandestinely mined and transported from the area for years, and that police action has been sporadic and short-lived, with those involved returning to business soon after.Locals have now demanded a sustained crackdown by the police, with sources pointing out that sand is being clandestinely mined at various other locations in South Goa. They said action limited to one village would only push the racket elsewhere.Locals say the trade has turned out to be a lucrative business opportunity for the unemployed, with steady demand from the construction sector ensuring a ready market. With few jobs on offer, many young men in riverside villages have drifted into sand mining using suction pumps, loading and transporting sand, they said.The racket has also given a new lease of life to iron ore trucks left idle since mining came to a halt. With little other work available, several of these trucks are now finding better business opportunities in the sand trade along Zuari river, sources said.Residents also complain that machines operating through the night disturb their sleep, particularly that of children and the elderly, and that houses close to the river have developed cracks, which they attribute to the extraction.
