Need to check illegal mining, tree felling to avert disasters in Himachal: Satpal Singh Satti

Una legislator Satpal Singh Satti today said that indiscriminate construction along rivers, felling of trees and illegal mining were causing immense damage to infrastructure and should be checked to avert natural disasters.

Satti, while participating in a debate on the rain disaster under Rule 67 in the Vidhan Sabha, said that illegal mining had caused immense damage to bridges and infrastructure between Una and Santokhgarh. He added that no land in Una had been given on lease yet illegal mining was being done with the help of tippers and machinery from other states. He sought action against illegal felling of trees.

Satti said, “Both natural and human reasons are responsible for the phenomenon of cloudbursts and landslides. Tourists are afraid of visiting Himachal as every other day there are incidents of cloudburst. Not only the tourism sector but also apple and vegetable growers are suffering huge losses.” He added that it was futile to hold plantation campaigns when trees were being felled indiscriminately and the survival rate of the planted saplings was miserably low.

Satti also stressed the need for de-silting nullahs to check illegal mining and generate revenue for the government. He expressed concern over haphazard and unregulated construction along rivers, nullahs and waterlogged areas, which was a perfect recipe for a disaster.

Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma expressed concern over illegal construction underway in his earthquake-prone constituency. He added that the carrying capacity of major towns should be kept in mind before undertaking development works there to avoid making them a concrete jungle like Shimla.

Earlier, Chamba MLA Neeraj Nayyar said that there was an urgent need to regulate development in urban areas. Banjar MLA Surinder Shourie said that many days had passed after the cloudbursts but roads, power and water supply had not been restored in the disaster-affected areas of Mandi and Kullu.

Gagret MLA Rakesh Kalia stressed the need for installing an early warning system. “Sweden and some other European countries have installed early warning systems, which can predict rain-related disasters 10 days earlier and we should also adopt this measure,” he added.