Rampant Illegal mining in Punjab- Akali dal to lodge complaint against govt in NGT-Chandumajra
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
“Rampant illegal mining is going on the Punjab. The state government fails to control it in an efficient manner. Due to this the fertile soil of Punjab is being misused, sand is selling at an exorbitant prices under the nose of chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann “ said Shiromani akali dal senior leader Prem Singh Chandumajra while interacting with media at his residence in Patiala.
He further added that the “shiroamni akali dal is preparing a complaint against the state govt failure to curb the illegal mining in Punjab. No environment clearance (EC) has been taken by the state government and they are misusing the natural resources of Punjab. So, Akali dal has decided to lodge a complaint with the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Giving an example of village Bhalan in Sri Anandpur Sahib, he said the illegal mining has caused 50-60 feet deep in the village land, panchayat land. The situation is so worse that the tubewell’s are not working. Deputy Commissioner Rupnagar has been informed about the situation.
“The worst part of this illegal mining is that the mining mafia has rendered the land infertile by digging deep pits and extracting minerals from it and the state govt is doing nothing. Even the illegal mining is still going on in the assembly constituency of water resources, mines and geology minister Harjot Singh Bains” said Prem Singh Chandumajra.
Rampant Illegal mining in Punjab- Akali dal to lodge complaint against govt in NGT-Chandumajra. “The state government is befooling the residents of Punjab in the name of desilting where as they are doing the illegal mining in the rivers” added Chandumajra.
What is Environment Clearance ?
The EIA Notification of 1994 made the environmental clearance mandatory for all new projects and expansion/modernisation of existing projects covering 29 disciplines (later increased to 32 ) which included hydro-power, major irrigation and flood control projects.
November 5,2022
