Mines officer in Banda suspended for apathy

UP Geology and Mining Department director Roshan Jacob on Tuesday had recommended disciplinary action against Gupta on charges of dereliction of duty

LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath suspended district mines officer, Banda, Saurabh Gupta, on charges of being apathetic towards government work and not discharging official duties properly.

The department had detected illegal mining and transportation of sand from the bed of river Ken in Banda. (File Photo)

In a tweet, the Chief Minister’s office on Thursday said orders have been issued for the suspension of the district mines officer, Banda.

UP Geology and Mining Department director Roshan Jacob on Tuesday had recommended disciplinary action against Gupta on charges of dereliction of duty.

The department had detected illegal mining and transportation of sand from the bed of river Ken in Banda.

In view of the mining of sand outside the area allotted to the contractors, Jacob had ordered ban on mining of sand and its transportation with immediate effect. In view of the loss of revenue due to illegal mining, he ordered for collection of revenue from contractors.

On the direction of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the UP mining department launched a statewide drive to check illegal mining, illegal transportation of minerals and overloading of trucks transporting minerals, said Jacob. The department was using state-of-the-art surveillance system and technology to check illegal mining while teams of mining department were conducting raids at mines as well as checking transport forms and mining tags of vehicles on highways.