Illegal mining rampant but fewer challans issued in Baddi this year

Mining challans in Baddi police district have registered a steep decline this year though this border industrial belt witnesses blatant illegal mining activities.

The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt shares border with Haryana and Punjab and mining is a lucrative activity there as quarry material is conveniently transferred through numerous porous routes on riverbeds to the neighbouring states. A perusal of the mining challans issued by the Police Department this year reflects a fall in penalties imposed on violators involved in the illegal activity.

As against 694 challans issued in 2023, 403 challans were issued this year while this figure was as high as 454 in 2022, says Ashok Verma, Additional SP, Baddi. While Rs 92 lakh was collected as penalty from mining challans last year, it reduced to Rs 76 lakh this year.

A Mining Inspector was abducted and taken to Punjab in May after he seized vehicles involved in the illegal activity near the Bodla Khud in the Dhabota area of Nalagarh during night hours. The mafia threatened the mining team with sharp-edged weapons and took away their impounded vehicles. The help of the Punjab Police was sought to free the official, who was left at an isolated place.

The lack of strict vigil maintained on the borders and inadequate measures taken to plug escape routes have led to a spurt in the cases of illegal mining as is evident from the declining challans issued to violators this year.

Even the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has noted that illegally-mined material like soil and earth were used in the key Chandigarh-Baddi railway project. A committee constituted on April 19 to examine the issue found that around 21,600 metric tonnes of soil and muck was illegally excavated from the Sheetalpur to Dasomajra stretch in Baddi.