Mysore/Mysuru: Asserting that a concerted and cohesive massive local movement is necessary for putting an end to illegal mining activities in Mandya district, activist and Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya Founder-President S.R. Hiremath said that he had fought for putting an end to rampant illegal mining in Ballari district. 

Claiming that rampant and wanton mining in Ballari district had caused severe damage to the district’s natural environment, he said that the people of Mandya should see that Ballari is not repeated here.

Maintaining that Bebi Betta in Pandavapura taluk is gradually vanishing due to illegal mining activities and stone quarrying in the vicinity of KRS Dam is going on unchecked with alleged support by local politicians and netas who collect hafta, Hiremath alleged that illegal mining operators were cheating the Government in payment of royalty by submitting false statistics.  

Calling for a Ballari-like agitation in order to put an end to illegal mining in Mandya, he said that such an agitation can shake up the Government. 

He reiterated the need for a concerted movement with active participation from locals to take the issue of illegal mining in Bebi Betta and in the vicinity of KRS Dam, to its logical end.