50 blocked from portal in Yamunanagar

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Yamunanagar, January 15

The Mines and Geology Department has blocked 50 stone crushers and screening plants in the district from the eRavaana portal in the past four months, plugging their business activities.

The action came after the operators were found indulging in illegal mining during a drive undertaken by the department from September to December last year. Many crusher owners were allegedly found using fake eRawaana receipts or transit passes to buy and sell mining material (a mixture of boulder, gravel and sand), causing a loss of revenue to the government and royalty to lease holders of quarries.

The department got 21 FIRs registered against the violators. Rajesh Sangwan, Assistant Mining Engineer, Yamunanagar, said, “We have succeeded in curbing such illegal activities to a large extent in the past four months.”

The action also proved beneficial for the lease holders as they have started getting royalty and are able to deposit their monthly lease amount with the government regularly.

The state government started the e-transit pass (e-rawaana) system in 2020 to monitor the movement of mining material from quarries, stone crushers and screening plants.

Under the system, lease holders and crusher and screening plant owners issue e-transit passes through the portal to the buyers for transporting material instead of issuing manual bills.