Drones to survey mining areas along Yamuna banks

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, April 12

The Mines and Geology Department, Yamunanagar, is likely to conduct a drone survey of the entire mining areas of the district.

Sources said Sanjay Simberwal, assistant mining engineer, Yamunanagar, had recently written to the director of the department in this regard.

They said after taking charge of the assistant mining engineer in March, he visited different mining areas of the district and observed that a large number of areas in and around the Yamuna were affected by illegal excavation of boulder, gravel and sand, especially in Tajewala and Bailgarh villages.

“Few locations along the banks of the Yamuna are so badly affected the river might breach its banks in the coming rainy season. Flooding can also be caused in the area,” Simberwal wrote in the letter.

The sources said he also wrote that a large number of screening plants were installed along the banks of the Yamuna and their operation needed to be stopped as they were reported to be involved in the unauthorised purchase of raw mineral, boulder, gravel and sand.

“As the area affected by illegal mining is very large, a drone survey needs to be conducted for the actual assessment and further planning to curb the present situation,” the letter states.

Simberwal told The Tribune that he had requested the director of the department at Chandigarh to allow them to conduct a detailed drone survey of the entire mining area of Yamunanagar district, including the area of Tajewala and Bailgarh villages.

Meanwhile, a team of the Mines and Geology Department, Panchkula, visited Tajewala village on Friday. The team, comprising Deepak Hooda, senior geologist, and Suresh Kumar, a surveyor of the department, inspected sites where illegal mining was being carried out and 14 screening plants were being run close to the Yamuna embankment. Sources said the team would submit a report of illegal mining to the director of the department.

Nod for police post at Tajewala village 

Haridev Kamboj, executive engineer, water services division, Dadupur, and Sanjay Simberwal, assistant mining engineer, Yamunanagar, on Friday met Kuldeep Singh, SP, Yamunanagar, requesting him to set up a police post at Tajewala village. “The SP has accepted our request and has assured that a police post will be set up in the village,” said Kamboj. The demand for a police post at Tajewala was raised after The Tribune highlighted that the mining mafia had damaged a large portion of “right lower downstream embankment” of the Yamuna in Tajewala carrying out illegal mining along this embankment