"For each truck of sand mined illegally from the river bed, the builders have to pay only half of what they pay for a licensed truck of sand."
He alleged that besides some known companies, local Samajwadi Party leaders were involved in the sand mining. Hundreds of youths were engaged in the digging of sand from the riverbed, Nagar claimed.
Successive Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party governments in Uttar Pradesh in the past 15 years have not bothered to restrain the sand mafia.
Criminals apparently enjoying political clout operate openly. Licences were issued indiscriminately, sidelining all environment assessment norms, some activists said.
