Palampur: Illegal mining endangers bridge over Beas

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, December 12

The mining mafia has become active in Palampur, Sullah and Jaisinghpur areas in the absence of checks by state agencies in the past two months. As the state agencies remained busy in the Assembly elections, the mining mafia has been operating with impunity in the Neugal and Beas rivers and the Mandh khud.

Dozens of trucks, tippers, and JCB machines can be seen on the Palampur-Sujanpur and the Alampur-Jaisinghpur highways along the Beas and the Neugal at different points every day, extracting sand and stones from the rivers.

Illegal mining near Alampur has also endangered a strategic bridge over the Beas that connects Hamirpur and Kangra districts. The state Mining Policy 2015 prohibits mining 200 metres downward and upward of bridges in the state, but it is being done openly nowadays.

A large amount of dust coming out from stone crushers in Jaisinghpur subdivision has made the lives of villagers miserable. Hundreds of them residing near stone crushers are suffering from various respiratory and pulmonary diseases. Children and the elderly are the worst-affected.

A panchayat pradhan says that over 50 persons in his village are suffering chronic chest infection, which are damaging their lungs.

Residents say they are unable to sleep while children find it difficult to study because of the crushers and the movement of heavy machinery. Deep trenches dug along the Beas by the mafia have become graveyards of cattle.

The situation is similar in the Neugal where illegal mining is carried out at night. Since villagers had protested against illegal mining during the day, the mafia extracts sand and gravel at night with the help of flood lights. Despite various complaints, the authorities have taken no action.

Even the Mining Department has failed to follow the directions of the NGT and the state government with regard to earmarking the area allotted for mining.

District Mining Officer Rajiv Kalia says that necessary steps are being taken to check illegal mining in the Beas, Neugal, and the Mandh khud. He added that the field staff had been directed to deal firmly with the mining mafia.

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