Meanwhile, in a drive against illegal miners in the two regions, a special squad from Gandhinagar collected over Rs three lakh in fines during the past fortnight. In Vadodara district, Rs 25,000 were recovered as fines from five trucks ferrying illegally-mined sand from river Orsang.

According to official information, Das would also discuss issues regarding vacancies and methods to hike the annual collection of royalty and check royalty evasion in districts of Central and South Gujarat.

The meet is likely to discuss the issue of vacancies of inspectors and mine supervisors. It is scheduled to be held at Circuit House in the afternoon and attended by district geology officers from Anand, Kheda, Vadodara, Bharuch, Narmada, Panchmahals, Dahod, Surat and Valsad. Official information revealed that for the last one year the department is working without a single inspector or mine supervisor. Norms require two posts in each category.