LUCKNOW, March 19 -- Large scale illegal soil mining has allegedly been carried out in three villages under Bakshi Ka Talab, with the district administration on Wednesday confirming violations after a detailed probe and initiating FIRs and penalties against those found involved. The action follows a ground report published by Hindustan Times that exposed deep excavation across agricultural land and raised questions about regulatory oversight. The inquiry, led by Sahil Kumar, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), found that substantial quantities of soil were extracted from land falling under the proposed Naimish Nagar township project of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). The report has been finalised and forwarded to the district administration and the Directorate of Geology and Mining for further action. A team was constituted on March 16 within hours of the report flagging the violations. "We formed a team and sent it to the locations identified in the HT report. The finalised investigation report confirms illegal soil mining at the sites," Kumar said, adding that officials conducted spot inspections to assess the extent of excavation. In Farrukhabad village, nearly 4,320 cubic metres of soil was allegedly extracted. A fresh FIR has been lodged at Sairpur police station against the farmer concerned and legal proceedings have been initiated. Senior officials of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) said they had written multiple times to the SDM and district administration seeking action against alleged illegal soil mining in the BKT area. An official said that if soil mining was taking place, action should also be taken against officials concerned to curb such activities. The inquiry also noted that some farmers allegedly sold soil from their plots after receiving compensation for land acquisition. "During inspections, we observed that farmers were directly involved in allowing soil extraction after receiving compensation. This nexus has been noted in the report," Kumar said. The administration has marked the affected land parcels and referred the matter to the mining department for assessment of fines, which will be calculated based on the volume of soil allegedly extracted. A formal communication is also being sent to the LDA regarding violations linked to its proposed township project. Earlier, on February 18, authorities conducted a raid at one of the flagged locations, seizing six dumpers and registering an FIR at Sairpur police station. That operation reportedly revealed illegal extraction of around 2,920 cubic metres of soil. The March 16 ground report by HT documented deep craters across agricultural plots in the three villages, raising questions over whether soil was being removed from acquired land, government land or private farmland....