Ravi Dhaliwal
Pathankot, July 23
Late night miners having political links are active at some vantage points on the Ravi in this mining-rich district.
This development is against the law as the state government has banned mining from July 1 to September 30 following the onset of the rainy season.
We have all info of raids
The DC might have formed squads, but don’t expect any action. We get to know in advance about such raids and consequently we move to some other spot. A miner
Moles in administration
These people have moles in the administration. These moles inform the miners in advance following which a cat and mouse game is played out near the rivers. An official
Reports have been regularly surfacing that some well-connected people are engaged in late night excavation of sand and gravel. Deputy Commissioner Harbir Singh claimed that he had received some inputs of mining being done at some points on the Ravi following which he asked previous SSP Arun Saini to check out things.
“I have formed teams, which are on the look-out for such residents who want to make a quick buck by bringing in JCBs and other excavation material at the dead of the night,” said the DC.
Sources in the Mining Department confirm the worst. They claim despite the best efforts of the government, unauthorised digging will go on because these people have exceptionally strong links. “The DC might have formed squads, which are on the prowl at night. However, do not expect any action. We get to know in advance about such raids and consequently we move to some other spot,” said a miner engaged in this nocturnal activity. The lure of the lucre is too strong for us to stop,” he added.
Sources say it is a multi-crore business going on. “These people have moles in the administration. These moles inform the miners in advance following which a cat and mouse game is played out near the rivers,” said an official. Experts claim even if the government now comes out with some drastic steps, enough damage has already been done to the ecological system.
Before the monsoon ban came into force, illegal mining had received a setback when former Bhoa Congress MLA Joginder Pal’s quarry was raided and equipment seized. Another slowdown was witnessed on April 17, when the state government posted Krishan Kumar as Principal Secretary (Mines and Geology).
There was a time when sand and gravel used to be taken out from under the railway bridge between Madhopur and Lakhanpur, which is a restricted area. The Jammu-Pathankot-New Delhi train passes over this bridge. Some strict action by government officials meant that the activity has now stopped. Experts claim miners are always a step ahead of the government.
Illegal mining first started in Pathankot in 2007. Thereafter, scores of influential people entered the fray and pocketed crores of rupees. The politician-miner-bureaucrat-policeman equation used to thrive.
SSP Khurana gave miners a run for their money
- Police officers are often pressured by the politicians to look the other way whenever any illegal excavation of sand or gravel is sighted. Old timers into the business reveal that in the recent past just one officer dared to meet the miners and their ‘political godfathers’ in the eye. He was former Pathankot SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana
- On January 22 last year, he raided the crushing unit of then MLA Joginder Pal in Kirri village on the Ravi. Mining equipment was seized and an FIR was registered at the Taragarh police station. Joginder Pal had sent him feelers to dilute the case, but the officer stood his ground. Knowing well that there were some black sheep in his force who could leak information, the SSP had asked them to keep their mobile phones at home before raiding the site
Availability of potable water hit
- The biggest casualty of illegal mining is that uncontrolled sand mining substantially lowers the water table, affecting irrigation and potable water availability
- Even as AAP claims unauthorised excavations have come to an end, this is not true, say sources. At the most, the activity has ‘subsided’
- “On a scale of 1 to 10, you can peg it at 4 while before the AAP came to power it was 10/10,” said a miner
Deep Nexus: Nocturnal miners nullify Punjab govt’s 3-month ban order
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