Tractors used in illegal mining, cops crack whip

Tractors are increasingly finding use in unauthorised activities like mining in the bordering industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, where a whopping 215 tractors were seized by the police in 2025.

Sharing border with the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, quarry material mined illegally from the riverbeds in the area, often at night or in the wee hours, and is transported by mining mafia in trucks and tippers.

Reckless mining not only causes environmental degradation, but also makes rivers change their course during the rainy season. In a crackdown on perpetrators of illegal mining, the Baddi police seized 516 vehicles in 2025, including 200 tippers, 86 earth excavation machines and 10 trucks.

Three pocklane machines and two light motor vehicles were also part of the exhaustive paraphernalia seized by the police in 68 cases, while 124 persons were arrested. “Sixty-eight cases, which involved environmental degradation, have been forwarded to the National Green Tribunal so that monetary costs can be imposed on the offenders in addition to the action initiated under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act,” said Baddi SP Vinod Dhiman. To deter habitual offenders, the Baddi police also initiated financial investigation where property amassed from the proceeds of crime is being seized.

“The police registered the highest number of cases against illegal mining in the state in 2025 and we are adopting a zero-tolerance policy towards the illegal practice,” the SP added.

He said extra vigil, regular patrolling of mining-prone areas and special campaigns to nab offenders have helped the police crack down on the mining mafia to quite an extent. In a bid to deter the use of vehicles for unauthorised activities, like mining, action is also taken under Section 207 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Thirty-one vehicles and excavation machines plying without registration number were seized.

With soil erosion and destruction of the habitat, illegal mining also triggers land subsidence. Owing to these activities, the National Green Tribunal has imposed monetary compensation on the perpetrators. As an additional measure to curb the unauthorised activity, the district magistrate has banned mining and use of machines from 7 pm to 7 am in this cluster. With several highway and infrastructure projects underway, there was an immense demand for quarry material like sand and stones in the region. Since mining is considered highly profitable, it has become an organised activity led by the mining mafia.