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Environmentalists urge CM to review mining policy of 2024

Environmental groups of the Kangra valley today urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to review the mining policy introduced by his government in 2024, as the new policy had given rise to illegal mining in the state. They said the...
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Environmental groups of the Kangra valley today urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to review the mining policy introduced by his government in 2024, as the new policy had given rise to illegal mining in the state.

They said the decision of the state government to allow the use of heavy machinery for the extraction of sand and stone from the state’s rivers and rivulets had virtually given a licence to the mining mafia for the extraction of rich natural wealth of the state.

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“The new mineral policy of the state government has replaced the 11-year-old Mineral Policy-2013 brought by the Virbadhra Singh government. Later, the Jai Ram government also followed the same policy. However, the Sukhu government, which was under constant pressure from the mining lobby of the state, was forced to amend the previous policy. The mining lobby had been making efforts for the past 20 years for permission to use heavy machinery for the extraction of minerals in the state. However, three former Chief Ministers — Virbadhra Singh, Prem Kumar Dhumal and Jai Ram Thakur — had outrightly rejected the request of the mining lobby and continued with the old mining policy,” said Subhash Sharma, Ashwani Gautam and KB Ralhan, local environmentalists.

They said under new policy of 2024, the state government had allowed the use of heavy machinery like the JCB and poklane machines for the extraction of minerals from riverbeds or stream beds up to the depth of 1m to 2m by depositing a prescribed fee in the state exchequer. Likewise, the owners of stone crushers had been allowed to use heavy machinery like loaders and JCB machines under the new policy.

The state government had, meanwhile, claimed that new policy 2024 had curbed illegal mining and boosted revenue. However, the ground realities are entirely different, rather the new mining policy had encouraged large-scale illegal mining in the state’s river and rivulets with the entry of heavy machinery.

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Environmentalist organisations, Save Neugal River, People’s Voice, Save Himalayas and Environment Healers which have been fighting against the environmental degradation in the state, had openly criticised the new policy of the Congress-ruled government in the state.

Talking to reporters here, Ashwani Gautam, KB Ralhan, Varun Bhuria, members of these organisations, said they had time and again expressed concern over illegal mining in the rivers and rivulets of the Kangra valley like the Beas, Neugal, Mandh and Mol khuds. They said with the entry of heavy machinery in the rivers, the mining mafia had played havoc with nature in the absence of any check from the state mining department.

They said the NGT and High Court had many times raised concerns over the use of heavy machinery for the extraction of sand, stones and other minerals from the rivers in the state. They said most of the rivers are passing through protected forest, which are eco-sensitive zones.

“In a significant order, the Supreme Court has directed that each protected forest should have an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of 1 km. Mining within national wildlife sanctuaries or national parks cannot be permitted. If the existing ESZ goes beyond the 1 km buffer zone or if any statutory instrument,” they added.Caption:- Mining being done in a river of the state.

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