Illegal mining leaves a dent on Bengal’s ecology and economy

Arun Pathak, a revenue officer in West Bengal, was injured while stopping a truck carrying illegally mined boulders.

On the morning of August 14, Arun Pathak, a revenue officer from the block land and land reforms office (BL&LRO) at Dhupguri in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, was on a routine duty to check challans of vehicles carrying boulders extracted from rivers.

Illegal mining of sand and river bed material (RBM), which comprises boulders, gravel, and sand, are going on rampantly across West Bengal. (HT Photo)