lllegal mining: SDM records statement

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, May 29

Following complaints of illegal mining on the banks of the Chakki river, SDM Rakesh Prajapati, along with officials of the Revenue Department, today visited the area.

Residents said there was a nexus between land and crusher owners. They said due to the illegal activity, a number of irrigation schemes had dried up.

The SDM recorded the statements of the villagers. The latter said gram panchayats had been issuing no objection certificates to such people for the past two decades. These people then leased out land to crusher owners for mining activity.

The residents said JCBs from Punjab’s stone crushers were pressed into service for excavating raw material at night.

The SDM asked the private land owners not to lease out their land assist the government in curbing the menace. He said the inter-state boundaries of the Chakki river would be measured and identified jointly by the state and Punjab governments’ field revenue staff on June 16.

“The names of stone crushers will be written on the JCBs and these will have number plates carrying registration numbers. Regular inspection of the JCBs will be done,” he said.