Palampur: Forest Department dismantles roads built by mining mafia

Advertisement

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 2

A team of the Forest Department today dismantled illegal roads built by mining mafia leading to Neugal river in Batthan panchayat of the Thural area under the Palampur subdivision.

The team led by Vinod Kumar, Range Officer, Daroh, used JCB machines to dismantle the roads under tight security. A senior official of the department supervised the operation.

Earlier, locals, panchayats and NGOs working for the protection of environment had protested against the illegal mining. They said the mafia had damaged local paths, electric installations, water channels, roads and cremation grounds. At many places, illegal and reckless mining was going unchecked resulting in environmental degradation. The mafia had even not spared reserve forests, they said.

A senior officer of the Forest Department told The Tribune that they would not allow the misuse of forest land for illegal purposes. He said the mining mafia had played havoc with nature. They had dug deep trenches in the forest land to extract sand and stones, the officer said, while seeking the help from the police and Mining Department to deal with the mafia, which was also posing a threat to public property.

Residents and members of NGO ‘Save Nature Save Neugal River’ have welcomed the Forest Department’s action. They said illegal mining was resulting in environmental degradation and causing loss in crores to the exchequer as the mined material was being lifted without paying royalty to the government.