MANDYA: It seems the owners of mining quarries at Baby Betta are not amenable to law with the district administration being unable to strictly implement its order banning mining in the area. Because of this, some quarry owners are blatantly carrying out their business, literally under the cover of darkness.Meanwhile, videos showing mining activities carried out during night hours , apparently circumventing the ban order of the district administration, are doing the rounds. Locals residing around Baby Betta said that mining activities are being carried out despite the ban. Even stone-crushing units are active in night hours, they added.However, senior officers of the district reject the allegations of locals. According to them, the videos might have been shot long ago. "They must have been recorded before the mining was banned. Our police personnel are strictly enforcing the ban order," said a senior officer, claiming anonymity.However, locals stand their ground. "We have never heard nor seen mining units working in night hours before," locals claimed.RTI activists Ravindra Kallahalli , who has been relentlessly fighting mining in Baby Betta, asked how can the authorities say that the videos are old and that nothing illegal is happening in Baby Betta. "Are these officers not serious enough to inquire why stone quarries are working in night hours? The units never worked during night before the ban enforced," he said.

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