Sand of high quality from the river beds of Birbhum are being transported to the BJPruled states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh loaded in bulk these days following the new auction procedure taken up by the district administration.

Around 2300 tonnes of sand loaded in 63 wagons left from Suri railway Station to Gujarat today. Experts say there is no soil left in the sand of Mayurakshi River banks. The contractors who participated in the e-auction tender process from outside the state tested the sand and found they were of top quality.

According to sources, demand for good quality sand for various types of construction is high in these states,. It may be recalled that on April last year in Darbarpur village under Labhpur Police Station area around ten people were killed in crude bomb blast over control of sand bank by two rival villages and groups.

The incident had rocked the state and chief minister Mamata Banerjee had directed irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee to take stern action against the illegal sand mafias. During her administrative meeting in Birbhum last year, she had directed SP, Neelkanth Sudhir Kumar to take stern action against illegal sand mines operating in the district and seize all illegal arms and explosives.

Based on her directives the district administration divided the sand banks into various blocks and went for the e -auction mode to make the tender process more transparent. Following which top bidders from outside the state got the sand bank at long term lease agreement. It has also further enhanced revenue generation for the state government.

The DGP of the state, Surajit Kar Purakayasthya, last year also formed a twelve – member committee to check illegal sand mines in Birbhum district after an IB report said there were over eighty illegal sand mines in Birbhum district out of which fifty were operative.

Due to the constant pressure from chief minister Mamata Banerjee against illegal sand mining, the land and land reforms department, district police, irrigation department have geared up and much to her relief the regular clashes between two rival groups have also stopped over sand bank control in Birbhum district already before the forthcoming gram panchayat polls.

Due to proper tendering process for the auctions of these sand banks, employment generation has also been created due to fair business by big inter state contractors, sources claimed.