Fed up of paying hefty penalties and police action like confiscation of their vehicles, truck owners in Bihar’s Saran district, which has emerged as a transit hub for sand transportation, have vowed not to overload their trucks.
According to data provided by the office of Saran district’s superintendent of police (SP), police have collected ₹65.25 crore in fines imposed on illegal sand mining and transportation in overloaded trucks in the last one-and-a-half years.
According to police, between April 2020 and November 17, 2022, at least 2,205 FIRs were registered, 4,429 trucks seized, 29.74 lakh cubic feet of sand confiscated and 2,745 people arrested in connection with the illegal sand business.
Following the crackdown, Saran Zila Truck Owners Association and Sand Vyawasai Sangh, an organisation formed on April 1 this year, have taken a decision to ensure there was no overloading of sand on trucks owned by their members.
Saran SP Santosh Kumar said Chapra, the district headquarter town, being the gateway to north Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, is the crucial junction for sand storage and transportation. “All the vehicles pass through Chapra town, though there is no sand mining in Saran district. Sand is ferried through river route by cost-efficient boats and from Chapra, it is transported in trucks. Therefore, a good number of families in Chapra own and ply trucks as their main source of livelihood,” said the SP.
He said action has been taken against at least 45 police personnel for collusion with the sand mafia. “Three policemen have been sent to jail while 20 others have been suspended and 23 others are facing departmental action. The result is that illegal sand transportation has been checked significantly,” the SP said.
Truck owner Jitendra Kumar said the crackdown has benefited them in a way. “If trucks are loaded within permissible limits, the tyre life increases and vehicle maintenance is cheaper. The twon is also spared of huge snarl-ups. Besides, truck owners avoid making illegal payments up to ₹20,000 to go across to UP from Saran,” he said.
Another truck owner, Mukesh Kumar, said all the trucks are weighed at Jhanga Chowk in Saran, which is the entry point, and the association is also particular about giving entry only after verification of the weight slip. “If the vehicle is overloaded, extra sand is removed right there. If any truck is found habitually overloading, it is handed over to the police,” he said.
Association president Rajendra Ray said, “The administration was also charging penalty from the overloaded vehicles at ₹10,620/cubic feet. The genuine truck owners were the worst sufferers. Today, the association’s 200 members are working day and night and the impact is visible on National Highway, which used to remain perennially jammed. It is free now.”
Ray, however, said some government officials don’t want this campaign to succeed and are instigating sand mafia to issue threats to truck owners.
