Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court on Tuesday asked govt authorities to give wide publicity to the state govt’s mobile application through which citizens can make complaints regarding illegal mining activities. The direction was given in connection with a case involving the illegal extraction of a large quantity of sand from a village in Bardoli taluka, which had left behind craters.Govt authorities conceded that due to a communication gap, appropriate action could not be taken against the mining mafia at that time. However, the authority lodged an FIR and a probe was underway. All the authorities concerned, including the additional chief secretary of the industries and mines department, filed affidavits assuring the HC that strict action would be taken against the culprits.After the court criticised the authorities for failing to curb widespread illegal mining, it was informed that a mobile application, Geomine, had been developed by the state govt to enable citizens to lodge complaints about illegal mining activities. The govt also said a control room with dedicated phone numbers had been set up for receiving such complaints, and steps were being taken to publicize the app widely.The court directed the govt “to comply with the statements made in the affidavits more particularly to ensure that illegal mining does not become a rampant issue in the state and complaints by the citizens are attended as expeditiously as possible”.The judge proposed placing QR code boards at each authorised mining site so that citizens can verify details about the site. The court also instructed govt to use mass media platforms to spread awareness about the system created to prevent illegal mining.
