The team tried to stop and check permits granted to the trucks carrying stones but most fled the spot.

Violations are being carried out in three different ways, said the conservator. There are villages where mining is taking place unchecked. These include Dewla, Bhopalwali, Alawalpur, Rethad, Meoli, Jhemrawat and Mhow, said Balwan.

The second category includes mines where the administration has tried to take remedial steps. “Villages like Dhadholi, Dhadhola, Sahezadpur and Wazidpuri have trenches dug out by the district administration to prevent mining activities,” said Balwan.

Plantation areas comprise the third category where trees have been chopped to make kuchcha paths for trucks, so that they can go undetected, said Balwan.

“The miners have destroyed plantations in an area of over 1.3 square kilometres to make a path between Ghata village to Shamshabad. Forest officials had also registered a case but no one was prosecuted thereafter. This is just one example among several others,” said Balwan.