Pune: Authorities have conducted raids on illegal sand mining sites along Ujani dam in Indapur taluka here and destroyed 42 such mines using explosives, an officer said today.
“We have been receiving several complaints from environmental activists and ornithologists that the natural habitat of migratory birds are in jeopardy, so we decided to take a stern action against such illegal sand mining dens along the backwater of Ujani dam,” said Santosh Jadhav, the sub-divisional officer of Baramati region.
He said the action of conducting raids and destroying such sites was started yesterday and by this evening, 42 such sites were blasted.
“We used gelatin sticks explosives to destroy the illegal sand mines,” he said.