Illegal bridge demolished

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 29

The Haryana Irrigation Department has demolished an illegal bridge made on the Yamuna riverbed in Sonepat district. Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary in the Irrigation Department, confirmed that the illegal bridge had been razed.

Ashwani Phogat, executive engineer in the Irrigation Department led the demolition exercise. He said the department had initiated the process of demolition on Tuesday itself when the news regarding the “illegal bridge” was published in The Tribune. A report regarding this has been submitted to the National Green Tribunal where the case was fixed for yesterday.

The Tribune had published a story “Mining firm builds bridge on Yamuna, authorities helpless” on Tuesday describing how a mining firm had built a temporary bridge on the Yamuna for ferrying its vehicles in gross violations of the directions of the NGT.

The Irrigation Department and the Mining and Geology Department were passing the buck on each other as efforts by the former to demolish the bridge in February this year had proved futile due to the influence of the RSS leader.

Meanwhile, several political leaders have castigated the state government for allegedly succumbing to pressure of RSS leaders in its day-to-day functioning.  Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today alleged that besides building of the bridge, illegal mining was going on with impunity on the Yamuna in Sonepat district and demanded a probe into it.

His son Deepender Singh Hooda, Congress MP from Rohtak, posted The Tribune story from his Twitter handle @DeependerSHooda with comments, “Is this New India?”  “The Yamuna is now a living entity. Under pressure of the RSS, the Haryana government failed as mining firm builds illegal bridge and changes the course of the river,” tweeted Randeep Surjewala, in charge, Communications in the AICC. State Congress president Ashok Tanwar said many RSS leaders were involved in illegal mining along the Yamuna.