Crack down on mining mafia, panchayats appeal to Himachal CM

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, January 18

A delegation of the elected representatives of various gram panchayats of Nurpur met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during his stay here last evening and apprised him of the unabated illegal mining in their area near Chakki rivulet. The delegation was represented by pradhans of the Khanni Uprali and Hadal gram panchayats.

Fertile land rendered barren

Illegal mining on the Chakki riverbed has changed the course of the rivulet... turned fertile land into barren, besides depleting the water table. Hoshiar Singh, bks dist prez

They alleged that the mining mafia was wreaking havoc in Khanni, Maira, Mouja Pail, Nakki and surrounding areas. They said heavy machinery was being used for illegal mining, leading to the creation of big trenches in the area. They said a number of complaints had been submitted to the police and the civil administration, but to no avail. Reckless mining had endangered the existence of Chakki rivulet, they alleged.

In a memorandum, they have appealed to the state government to launch an aggressive crackdown on the mining mafia.

Meanwhile, Hoshiar Singh, Kangra district president of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), has alleged that illegal mining led to the collapse of interstate railway bridge at Kandwal (Nurpur) in August last year and also exposed some pillars of the Chakki bridge on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway.

“Illegal mining has not only disturbed the ecology of the area, but also turned fertile land into barren, besides depleting the water table,” he said. The BKS has urged the government to declare the Chakki rivulet area a no-mining zone.

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