Beas changed course due to illegal mining, allege villagers

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, August 18

With 2,052 persons displaced and thousands of acres of agricultural land submerged under Beas floodwater, the affected people are alleging that the river changed its course due to illegal mining and the presence of stone crushers in the riverbed.

Seek inquiry panel

We have demanded that the government should form a committee to ascertain the reasons behind flooding in Indora and Fatehpur areas. An FIR should be registered against whosoever is responsible for the present situation.

Rana Pratap Singh, Thakurdwara village pradhan

They said the water entered their villages because the river changed its course due to illegal mining in the riverbed in Indora and Fatehpur areas of Kangra district.

The affected people of the Mand area said the stone crusher owners and the BBMB authorities should be held responsible for the losses caused to the residents of Indora and Fatehpur areas.

Ramesh Kumar, pradhan of Riyali village, said 70 per cent area of their panchayat had been submerged since water was released from the Pong Dam by the BBMB authorities on August 14. He alleged a stone crusher had been set up in the riverbed in their village. They had been protesting against the setting up of the stone crusher since long, but to no avail. The illegal mining and bundh created by the stone crusher owner changed the river course and it flooded fields and houses of people in the Riyali panchayat, he said.

Riyali residents have suffered loss of crop and cattle, besides damage to houses. Thakurdwara village pradhan Rana Pratap Singh also blamed the illegal mining on the Beas riverbed for damage in their area. Water had never entered our village earlier. This year, most of the agricultural land in the village and roads leading to it were inundated. A stone crusher at Riyali village led to change in the course of Beas due to which water entered our village, he said.

Rana Pratap Singh also blamed the BBMB authorities for not maintaining sustained flow of water from the Pong Dam when heavy rain was lashing the upper regions of Himachal.

Nikhil Kumar of the Mand area in Indora said people of the region were still coming to terms with the losses caused by floods. “Once we return to our houses, an agitation will be launched against illegal mining,” he said.

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#Bhakra Beas Management Board BBMB #Dharamsala #Illegal Mining