THATTA: Illegal extraction of boulders, gravel, limestone, stone granules and iron ore from mountain range of the district, particularly in the area lying on either side of Thatta-Hyderabad Highway, Keenjhar Lake and Chillya goes on unabated, posing a serious threat to national installations and human settlements.

Sources disclosed to Dawn on Wednesday that officials of the Sindh Mines and Mineral Development Department, police whose duty it was to safeguard natural resources, and influential landlords of the area were involved in the large scale theft of pricey minerals, renderinghuge losses tonationalexchequer.

A director of the department had raised the issue before secretary of irrigation and Thatta district authorities through a letter in 2016 which resulted in imposition of ban under Section 144 CrPC on illegal extraction of minerals but unfortunately the ban remained in force for a short time only, said the sources.

Before long, the influential gang flouted the ban and resumed the illegal extraction in broad daylight near Jherruck, Chillya and Keenjhar with the help of dozens of excavators and earth moving machines, said the sources.

The sources said that most extractors were operating without licenses while those with valid licences did not limit themselves to the quarry assigned to them and unashamedly stole minerals from other areas adjacent to their leased quarries in collusion with officials concerned.

The director of the mineral development department often lodged a complaint or two in the court of civil judge and judicial magistrate under relevant laws about theft of sand and gravel only to fulfill a formality and get himself absolved of his responsibilities, said the sources.

The unchecked practice of minerals extraction has create d huge craters and ditches along National Highway and Keenjhar Lake which will ultimately play havoc with the highway during monsoon rains and also pose a serious threat to nearby villages and the lake.