Agra: Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has flagged staff shortages, surveillance gaps and weak enforcement in National Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary in its fifth report on illegal sand mining. The report was uploaded on CEC’s website on Wednesday and will now be submitted to Supreme Court .
The report referred to the death of forest guard Jitendra Singh Shekhawat in Rajasthan’s Dholpur district in Jan 2026 following an incident involving a tractor-trolley carrying illegally transported minerals near the Jhiri checkpoint. It called for stronger enforcement and examination of a proposal to set up an integrated vehicle-checking facility on NH-44 in Dholpur. The committee has sought joint verification of 14 locations in Ken river catchment and all 31 approved sand quarries, including their boundaries, permissions and actual operations.
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CEC said that although the three states had taken several steps, gaps remained in staffing, surveillance, inter-departmental coordination and monitoring. It has asked the states concerned to submit a verification report and reconcile discrepancies in illegal mining cases within six weeks. It also sought detailed compliance reports distinguishing between measures proposed, sanctioned, procured, installed and actually operational. Download the TOI App.
In Madhya Pradesh, 211 personnel were working against 223 sanctioned posts. The state had installed 42 CCTV cameras at 18 locations and provided 30 body cameras and 12 dash cameras for six vehicles. However, its wireless communication system was still at the tender stage and none of the 16 proposed permanent checkposts had been completed. In 1978, the area along the Chambal river, spanning three states, was designated a wildlife sanctuary. There are 173 villages in MP, 260 in Rajasthan and 130 in UP situated within the demarcated boundary of the national sanctuary. Madhya Pradesh reported the seizure of 1,250 vehicles in Morena, Sheopur and Bhind districts. It had also approved 36 manufactured-sand (M-sand) units and 12 licensed sand depots in Morena. In UP, the state reported 12 M-sand units and 472 licensed sand storage depots, including three in Agra and one in Etawah.
It said the posts of deputy conservator of forests (DCF) and assistant conservator of forests (ACF) in the Agra division of the sanctuary had been vacant for several months. The committee said the prolonged vacancies could affect the sanctuary’s management and supervision. The committee said surveillance equipment and other measures should be assessed on the basis of whether they were operational and delivering results, rather than merely being proposed or procured. However, CEC said such approvals did not establish that the units were operational or that the demand for river sand had declined. It said the figures supplied by the forest and mining departments did not tally and needed to be reconciled before they could be relied upon.
CEC recommended that Uttar Pradesh immediately fill two key vacant posts in its Agra division and strengthen monitoring to curb illegal sand mining. Agra, held additional charge of DCF, no officer had been assigned charge of ACF While the divisional forest officer (DFO). Officials at the sanctuary were unavailable for a comment on the matter. It recommended that UP fill both posts immediately. CEC also highlighted gaps in surveillance and enforcement across the sanctuary. The court took suo motu cognisance of illegal sand mining in the Chambal Gharial Sanctuary early this year and issued a series of directions to Rajasthan , Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which share the sanctuary’s boundaries. The river is home to the largest population of gharials. The report also raised concerns over enforcement against illegal mining and transportation of sand. The committee called for verification of their operational status and their effectiveness in reducing pressure on riverbed sand resources. CEC also flagged discrepancies in data provided by various departments on illegal extraction and transportation of sand in Ken river catchment.