Mining persists in Khaniara despite SC orders

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 22

Despite the Supreme Court banning mining and the state government claiming to have tightened the noose around the mafia, the activity is still on in the slate mines of Khaniara village, 7 km from Dharamsala.

Residents of Khaniara lost the right to mine slate in the Dhauladhars after the state government failed to deposit about Rs 1.6 crore as the net present value (NPV) of 25-hectare forest land, which was to be diverted for mining with the Compensatory Afforestation Monitoring and Planning Authority (CAMPA).

As per documents available with The Tribune, the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests had set March 13, 2014, as the deadline for the state government to deposit the NPV, failing which it had threatened to cancel ad hoc permission for mining on the land.

Sources said to date, the state government had not deposited the NPV, but the illegal mining on the land was continuing.

District Forest Officials in Dharamsala had written to the Industries Department for the deposition of NPV with CAMPA. The General Manager, Industries, said the matter was to be dealt with by the Mining Department.

Khaniara village was once a hub of slate mining for entire Himachal. However, due to its impact on the Dhauladhars, the Supreme Court had banned the activity in the area.

The state government represented the case of Khaniara residents whose main source of livelihood was slate mining in the Supreme Court. The court had then allowed mining in 25-hectare forest land in the village 2002. However, before the forest land could be diverted for mining, the state government through its Mining Department had to deposit the NPV of the forest land with CAMPA.

The sources alleged that the entire mining taking place at Khaniara village was illegal. As per rules, the NPV had to be deposited by the state government with CAMPA. Till the amount was deposited, mining could not be allowed on the land in question. However, despite the fact that the NPV has not been deposited and the land has not been diverted in documents, the mining is going on. Forest officials, responsible for checking illegal activities on forest land, have turned a blind eye. The Union Ministry for Environment and Forests had written a letter to the Principal Secretary, Conservator of Forests, Himachal, on January 31, 2014, that the state government had not deposited the net present value for diverting the 25-hectare forest land for other purposes.

In the letter, a copy of which was available with The Tribune, the ministry maintained that in case the under agency (Mining Department in the present case) failed to deposit the NPV within the stipulated period, it would not consider approval for allowing mining on land under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Environmentalists have demanded an inquiry into the matter.