Illegal Mining Firms Fined Rs 120 Crores In Visakhapatnam

VISAKHAPATNAM: Cracking the whip on mining mafia, officials carried out raids on companies that were allegedly involved in illegal mining activities in Visakhapatnam district on Friday. In the last 10 days, the authorities imposed hefty fines to the tune of Rs 120 crores for their irregularities in mining. As of now, the authorities have found the irregularities in a total of nine quarries. The authorities raided the office of VVR group which is allegedly involved in illegal mining over the last few years.

Officials, in this connection, have issued notices to the VVR group and imposed a fine of Rs 114 crores for irregularities found in eight quarries.  It was also found that bills were received from the government for five quarries where excavation work was not actually carried out. Also, the excavations were found to have been taken up in gross violation of safety standards and environmental permits.