Casablanca Monitored by Drones

The authorities in the Casablanca-Settat region, in coordination with the Equipment and Water departments, conducted an inspection operation concerning the exploitation and management of sand quarries. Drones were used to carry out an aerial survey, using images of several roads and interchanges between central Casablanca, Nouaceur, Berrechid, Tit Mellil, Rabat and other areas, in order to detect the expansion of several quarries operated by public works and construction companies responsible for road projects. The data obtained was used to guide the authorities’ agents in documenting violations and drafting reports against those involved in the illegal exploitation of quarries, with a view to submitting their cases to the competent public prosecutor’s office in the coming weeks, sources told Hespress.

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The visual data obtained provided precise information on the expansion of quarries located within the territorial boundaries of several communes, the same sources reported, noting that comparison with the registers of the provincial delegations of Equipment and Water revealed the absence of any declaration or authorization application for these operations. It was discovered that some companies had actively engaged in extracting “Toufna” (yellow sand) for use in supplying construction and road rehabilitation projects, before abandoning the quarries without taking any precautionary or safety measures once the work was completed. Another finding was that some of these abandoned quarries had turned into muddy pools following the recent rainfall recorded in the region, thereby endangering the safety of residents of the douars and surrounding areas.

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The companies in violation were identified as part of the audit, as were the violations, with the help of photographs and videos showing drilling and earthmoving machinery operating in illegal quarries exploited by companies responsible for road construction projects. The monitoring also made it possible to trace the extraction of soil and its use in road infrastructure development works. Yet the law governing quarry exploitation in Morocco requires compliance with a set of provisions when these sites are operated. Companies must pay taxes and fees in exchange for the exploitation and comply with the specific obligations and declarations required during extraction and transport operations. Offenders (companies in violation) face financial and administrative penalties that may extend to closure in the event of non-compliance with the conditions of the specifications accompanying the authorization.

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It should be noted that companies working on infrastructure projects may obtain temporary authorizations to exploit quarries, enabling them to access the raw materials necessary to carry out the work and optimize time and effort during implementation.

This inspection operation concerning the exploitation and management of quarries follows an unannounced inspection visit by Mohamed Mhidia, Wali of the Casablanca-Settat region, to the rehabilitation and widening works on the motorway routes linking Berrechid to Tit Mellil and Berrechid to Casablanca, accompanied by the governors of the provinces of Nouaceur, Berrechid and Médiouna.