Deep Nexus: Illegal operations hit permitted mining in Yamunanagar

Tribune News Service

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Yamunanagar, July 22

Illegal mining has adversely affected the business of those stone crusher and screening plant owners who are doing business using legal raw mining material.

Their plants either remain non-functional or become operational only for some hours every day as they don’t get adequate quantity of the raw mining material (a mixture of sand, boulder and round ‘bajri’).

Facing losses

We use only legal mining material. We don’t get adequate quantity of raw mining material every day. Therefore, most of the times our crushers or screening plants remain non-functional. A stone crusher owner

“Legal mining quarries are limited in number. All stone crushers and screening plants cannot run at their full capacity by getting the supply of raw mining material from these legal mining quarries. Therefore, the operators of a number of stone crushers and screening plants choose to get raw mining material through illegal quarries,” said a stone crusher owner.

He said the cost of the illegal raw mining material was cheaper than that of the legal raw mining material.

“Most of the illegal raw mining material is stolen from rivers without paying any cost of the material. Besides, a number of land owners carry out illegal mining in their fields and supply mining material to stone crushers at cheaper rates,” he added.

Another stone crusher owner said, “We use only legal mining material. We don’t get adequate quantity of raw mining material every day. Therefore, most of the times our crusher or screening plants remain non-functional. Our business has almost ruined. However, those using illegal mining material are flourishing.”

He further said, “We are selling broken ‘bajri’ of 10 mm size for Rs 32 (per quintal). However, they (who use illegal raw mining material) are selling for Rs 24-25 per quintal. “The government should check the record of purchase and source of the raw mining material, besides checking the record of sale of finished goods of every stone crusher and take strict action against violators,” he said.

“I have almost put control on illegal mining since I joined as mining officer in Yamunanagar district about a month ago. If anyone is found doing illegal mining in any part of the district, strict action will be taken against him,” said Rajiv Dhiman, District Mining Officer.

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