Illegally mined material ‘benefiting’ Punjab

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, February 2

The Punjab Government is earning money in form of tax on construction material illegally mined in border areas of Himachal Pradesh. Highly placed sources told The Tribune that the Punjab Government had imposed a tax of Rs 3.5 on per cubic feet of mined material such as sand and gravel coming from Himachal without M-Form. The Punjab Government was earning about Rs 60 lakh every day as tax from illegally mined material, the sources said.

The Himachal Mining Department issues M-Form to authenticate that the material was mined legally and was collected from area leased by the state government. Any mined material coming from Himachal without M-Form falls in the category of illegal mining. The fact that the Punjab Government is collecting tax on mined material coming from Himachal with M-Form shows that illegal mining is taking place.

Industries Minister to write to Mann

The Punjab Government is promoting illegal mining in Himachal by imposing tax on mined material being supplied without M-Form. It amounts to legalising illegal mining. I shall write to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann against this illegal tax they have imposed. —Harshwardhan Chauhan, Industries Minister

The Swan river and its tributaries in Una district and the Chakki and Beas riverbeds in Kangra district along Ropar and Pathankot borders in Punjab are prone to illegal mining, the sources said.

State Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, who also heads the Mining Department, said that the Punjab Government was promoting illegal mining in Himachal by imposing tax on mined material being supplied without M-Form. “It amounts to legalising illegal mining in Punjab. I shall write to the Punjab Chief Minister against this illegal tax they have imposed,” he added.

He said that the Himachal Government had cracked down on illegal mining. However, due to porous borders the mining mafia from Punjab was excavating sand and gravel in Himachal border areas. He added that the Punjab Government should crack down on illegal mining instead of legalising it by imposing tax.

The Himachal Government has imposed two types of taxes on mining operations (royalty on mined material and GST on material being produced by stone crushers). The state government is losing revenue under both heads due to illegal mining.

The sources said that the Congress government was planning to double the royalty on mined material such as sand and gravel from Rs 80 per MT to Rs 160 MT to increase its revenue.

Illegal mining in Himachal is a political issue. Both BJP and Congress, while in the opposition, blame each other for protecting the mining mafia. Senior Congress leader Asha Kumari had raised concern over rise in the number of MLAs having interest in mining business. She had said that lawbreakers were becoming lawmakers.

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