Green activist Girish Gandhi’s son booked for sand mining

Nagpur: Nishant Gandhi, son of a prominent environmentalist and politically influential Girish Gandhi, has been booked for illegally mining sand from a jhudpi jungle. Gandhi has been accused of mining sand even as the activity was prohibited on account of the land being a minor forest. He is reported to have evacuated sand to his private plot close by at Ranala around 10 kms from the city under Kamptee tehsil.A minor forest is government land held by the revenue department.
The police seized one truckload of sand following complaint by the patwari of Kamtpee tehsil Amol Handa. Gandhi junior is a BJP functionary and his father who is from NCP and heads NGO Vanrai Foundation that works on increasing green cover.
Nishant is now in the US for an educational trip on the country’s politics sponsored by the American government. He left for the US around a week ago and is expected back on May 28, his father told TOI. The offence against him was registered on Tuesday.
On the development, senior Gandhi said he had no idea about the episode except that the police have registered an offence against his son. However, officials in the revenue department said the Gandhis’ claimed that it was the developer engaged at their plot who had mined the sand.
The cost of sand seized is estimated at 5 lakh. According to sources in the patwari’s office, illegal sand mining continued for more than a month. The matter was soon reported to the revenue department by the locals.
Huge quantities sand was reported to be taken to Gandhi’s 26-acre plot close to the minor forest area. Since the area from where sand was mined is a Jhudpi Jungle, no such activity was allowed, said an official related to the action. Another truck was seized by the police at Kamptee in an independent action.