KALYAN: In a major crackdown on illegal mineral mining in the Kalyan region, the Revenue Department has sealed 24 stone quarries and stone crusher units and registered an FIR against operators of nine units for allegedly carrying out unauthorized excavation on government and private land without official permission. The case has been registered at the Kalyan Taluka police station. The action was carried out by a team led by Sub-Divisional Officer Vishwas Gujar, which conducted inspections across several mining and industrial units with-in Kalyan taluka limits. During the inspection drive, the team checked operational quarry leases, stone crusher plants, ready-mix concrete (RMC) units and asphalt plants. Officials found that nine stone quarries and crusher units were operating without the mandatory government permissions. Based on the findings, mandal officer Preeti Ghude filed a complaint at the Kalyan Taluka police station, following which a case was registered against the operators. Apart from these, several other units that possessed valid permissions were also found violating regulatory norms. Officials discovered that some plants had failed to maintain la-bour registers while others had discrepancies in excavation measurements. Such units have been sealed temporarily and have been direct-ed to submit proper measure-ment reports to the authorities. The action has reportedly created difficulties for several road contractors in Thane district who rely heavily on these plants for con-struction material required for road works.Meanwhile, the owner of one such unit, who claimed to possess valid permissions but whose plant was also sealed did not wish to be named, alleged that the action was a tactic by authorities to harass operators.
