Curbing illegal mining, drug menace priority: Himachal Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri

Una, January 11

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today said that the Congress government would launch a decisive fight against illegal mining and drug mafia in the state.

Agnihotri, while interacting with district-level officers at Ghaluwal rest house in Haroli subdivision, said that the people of the state had been reeling under these menaces for the past five years. He added, “It is the top priority of our government to put a check on illegal mining and drug mafia. Results are already visible on the ground as heavy penalties have been imposed on offenders.”

He directed officials concerned to keep a strict vigil on the mining mafia and also take up the matter with their counterparts in Punjab as most of the illegally mined material was supplied to the neighbouring state.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that Rs 1,500 crore had been spent on constructing stone-pitched embankments on the banks of the Swan river and its 73 tributaries. He added that damage to these structures due to illegal and unscientific mining on riverbeds would not be allowed.

He said that instances of damage caused to public property due to illegal mining should be reported and stringent punitive action should be taken against the offenders.

Agnihotri, who also holds the charge of Jal Shakti Department, said that irrigation facilities would be provided for agricultural land in the Beet area, which comprises high-altitude belt of the Haroli Assembly segment, at a cost of Rs 80 crore.

He directed Jal Shakti Department officers to prepare a detailed project report for the purpose. He also directed them to prepare a status report on the current availability of drinking water per capita in the Assembly segment.

He directed HIMURJA officials to install solar streetlights on the Haroli to Rampur bridge over the Swan river, which was constructed during the previous Congress government. He said that the work should be completed in a time-bound manner.

Agnihotri said that Government College at Haroli, which was sanctioned by the previous Congress government, was still functioning from a temporary building and soon it would have its own building. He directed Health Department officers to strengthen infrastructure at the Haroli Civil hospital so that people do not have to rush to the Una District Hospital even for minor ailments.

He heard public grievances and directed the officers concerned to address their issues at the earliest.