JORABAT, Feb 4 - Pulling their socks up against illegal stone trade in the city, the forest officials have stepped up vigil to check the rising incidents of forest crimes.
To combat such crimes, the Khanapara forest unit led by beat officer (BO) Prahlad Gayan has launched a crackdown on the flourishing stone syndicate in the city.
It may be mentioned that the real estate builders in the city are doing brisk business in the area with an alarming rise in illegal mining activities and stone trade in the Meghalaya hills, bordering Guwahati.
As per sources, contractors and traders take multiple trips with a single challan and carry excess load, thereby causing huge revenue loss to the government.
�Taking a serious note of the matter, our team has successfully seized five dumpers in the Khanapara area in the last two days,� said BO Gayan while speaking to The Assam Tribune on the issue.
Dumpers bearing registration numbers � AS 01 KC0544, AS 01KC 5727, AS 01LC 2400 and AS 01JC 7162 � were seized on late Sunday night, while another dumper (AS 01EC 3104) was seized on Monday night. The trucks were carrying stone from the adjacent Meghalaya hills without necessary documents for transportation. A source in the know-how of the trade informed that about 100 stone-laden dumper trucks ply from the Meghalaya hills daily and enter Assam through NH-37 in Jorabat.
The trucks then enter Guwahati through Khanapara. Most of these trucks don�t procure challan from the source State and also don�t procure �levy� from the Assam Forest department for the same.