7,000 cases of illegal mining last year

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, January 14

Illegal mining has been rampant in the state. In the past two years, the Mining Department has imposed a fine worth Rs 7 crore on accused in mining cases. The fine has been imposed by 39 departments. In 2013, 5,300 cases of illegal mining were detected while in 2014 about 7,000 cases were reported.

Minister for Industry Mukesh Agnihotri said since 39 departments were authorised to check illegal mining, the number of cases of illegal mining in the last two years were more than 12,000. Though the department had been stringent in checking illegal mining, the number of cases of illegal mining rose from 5,300 in 2013 to 7,000. Last year, the department collected Rs 4.5 crore from fine.

The maximum cases of illegal mining were reported from Kangra and Una districts.