Black diggers will pay 1.7 million rubles for the damage inflicted on nature. A criminal case was initiated for illegal sand extraction
Fellow workers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated a criminal case for illegal quarry development. The fact of unauthorized extraction of common mineral resources near the village Otary was revealed by inspectors of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan last November. Drivers of the loader and the digger were caught in the act, and KAMAZ trucks were registered in the course of transportation of common mineral resources. At that time, state inspectors in the field of environmental protection drew a protocol according to part 1 Article 7.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation “The use of mineral resources without a license to use mineral resources”. Total extent of the sand quarry development amounted to 4 thousand cubic meters. Ecological specialists estimated the damage inflicted on the environment to be 1 million 700 thousand rubles. All the documents pertaining to the case were referred to the law enforcement agencies to adopt further measures. Police department No. 10 “Promyshlenny” under the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for Kazan initiated a criminal case. “Black diggers” will sustain punishment according to part 1 Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Illegal entrepreneurship”. It is prohibited by law to “carry out business activity with no registration or with no license in cases when such a license is obligatory, if such activity inflicted gross damage on citizens, companies or the state”.
This year, inspectors of the Ministry of Ecology prevented illegal development of 160 quarries on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan. The damage amounted to more than 100 million rubles (in 2014 it exceeded 150 million rubles). A considerable amount of cases was solved without delay, and owing to this fact it was possible to decrease the damage inflicted on nature, as it was acknowledged by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan, Farid Abdulganiev. According to him, a considerable share of cases was solved in the course of helicopter flyovers. The Minister acknowledged that the work on prevention of illegal extraction would be carried out during winter as well.
As a reminder, it is possible to inform on violation of the nature protection legislation at (843) 267-68-67 (Hotline) or via e-mail: eco.signal@tatar.ru and the “People’s control” system. Moreover, starting this August 1st, the citizens who provide operative information on illegal extraction of mineral resources with photo or video registration of the violation will get remuneration.
Press Service of the Ministry