📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Ms Sarah Welch
Local
500 People Enter River Near Panna’s Range Dam Dube to Hunt Diamonds, Forest Dept Acts
✍️ Amar Ujala · Madhya Pradesh
🗓 15 Sep 2026, 08:01 PM
👁 12
After recent rains, roughly 400‑500 individuals waded into the river near Range Dam Dube in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, hoping to find diamonds. Forest officials arrived on the scene, dispersed the crowd and heightened monitoring.
A large group of prospectors and locals, estimated at four to five hundred, entered the river flowing beside the Range Dam Dube in the Vishramganj range of Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, after heavy rain. Their aim was to search for diamonds that are occasionally reported in the riverbed.
Local forest officials were alerted to the gathering and promptly reached the site. Acting under standard safety protocols, they ordered the crowd to leave the water, cleared the banks, and ensured that no one remained in the potentially hazardous flow.
The department also announced that surveillance of the area would be intensified to prevent similar mass gatherings, citing safety risks and the possibility of illegal mining activity. Authorities have urged the public to refrain from unregulated prospecting and to report any such incidents to the forest office.
Local forest officials were alerted to the gathering and promptly reached the site. Acting under standard safety protocols, they ordered the crowd to leave the water, cleared the banks, and ensured that no one remained in the potentially hazardous flow.
The department also announced that surveillance of the area would be intensified to prevent similar mass gatherings, citing safety risks and the possibility of illegal mining activity. Authorities have urged the public to refrain from unregulated prospecting and to report any such incidents to the forest office.