Illegal mining poses threat to Agampur bridge in Ropar

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ropar, May 23

The large-scale illegal mining in the district is posing a threat to the Agampur bridge on Anandpur Sahib-Nurpur Bedi road.

As the river bed has been lowered due to the constant and illegal digging of sand and gravel on both sides of the bridge for years, the base of the piers (the main support of the bridge upon which the structure of the bridge rests) has been exposed by more than 15 feet.

Though the PWD had written a letter in this regard, the authorities concerned have preferred not to react. When The Tribune visited the spot in the afternoon, a JCB machine was loading tippers with sand a little distance from the bridge.

The Home Guards personnel deployed at the bridge said that illegal mining was going on day and night. On any given day, more than two dozen such machines could be seen working on both sides of the bridge after sunset, they said.

When asked why they did not stop the mining mafia, the Home Guards personnel said they could act only if someone tampered with the structure of the bridge. “Initially, we tried to stop them, but they warned us not to interfere in their business,” they said, adding all such people were well-connected.

A few yards from the bridge is a kiosk set up by the mining mafia. A youth sitting in the kiosk has two registers. While one register contains the numbers of tippers carrying sand and stone from the river, the other is a receipt book.

A tipper driver sitting at a nearby ‘dhaba’ explains the purpose of the receipt. “We show the receipt to any official on the way and he leaves us alone,” he said. The receipt holder has to pay protection money to the mining mafia which has political and police support, said the tipper driver.

Residents of villages in Nurpur Bedi staged a protest on May 9 warning the district administration to take concrete action in this regard.

A sarpanch from the area alleged that people in the Congress as well as SAD and BJP benefit from ‘gunda’ tax.

As per an estimate, nearly 500 tippers are loaded with sand and gravel illegally by the mafia every day. A minimum of Rs 3,000 is collected as ‘gunda’ tax from every tipper.

Bhola Singh Brar, general manager, Mining Department, said they had no staff to check such activities. Only one block-level officer and six mining guards were available in the whole district, he said. However, action was taken whenever any complaints were brought before them, he said.

Base of piers exposed by more than 15 ft

As the river bed has been lowered due to the constant and illegal digging of sand and gravel on both sides of the bridge for years, the base of the piers (the main support of the bridge upon which the structure of the bridge rests) has been exposed by more than 15 feet