It has been noted that trucks conveying prohibited sand have stuck, causing huge traffic congestion on National Highway 930, linking Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Towns like the block headquarters at Manpur saw several trucks get stuck by the forest barrier, causing long traffic snaking on both sides of the highway.
It has come out that the jam occurred last night when an unknown vehicle laden with banned sand got immersed in an adjacent ditch close to the Manpur block forest barrier. Traffic is hindered between Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, especially around midday, as 10-12 trucks loaded with banned sand move up the highway. Consequent to this evident difficulty, the legal attempts to eliminate the unlawful movement of sand have not yet been keenly addressed.
At the entrance of the Manpur Tehsil office at Betul, trucks full of banned sand are parked on the roads, making it even worse. Police authorities have deployed officers in a bid to reopen the jam, but it has not returned to normal.
It is not the first time that the transport of sand within the region has caused problems due to illegality. In the video, only a few days before the time of the shot, the villagers from Sahpal demanded the road closure due to the degradation of roads caused by the transport of banned sand incessantly. This has again proved that the mining department and the local administration lacked the courtesy of handling their work carefully.
The traffic congestion on such a crucial national route has caused commensurate annoyance to many tourists. This, coupled with the long duration and frustration, makes people doubt the capability of the relevant authorities to deal with the matter efficiently. Unless something is done regarding the murky extraction and transportation policy, more frequent instances such as these will no doubt cause inconvenience to the populace and tourists.
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