Admn denies reports of illegal mining at Rattewal village

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Nawanshahr, September 9

Teams of the Mining Department and the district administration visited a site in Rattewal village in Balachaur and inspected the site for alleged illegal mining activities on Friday morning. The mining officials said nothing illegal was found on the spot.

Demarcation of another site ordered

As per information from the Mining Department, another site at Rattewal village was identified during random checking where illegal mining was being carried out. “We have asked the tehsildar to start demarcation of the area and will take action soon. But there is no such problem with the site which got highlighted in media reports,” the official claimed.

Notably, reports of alleged illegal mining at the Balachaur village have been surfacing recently, which put the Nawanshahr administration on its toes. According to the media reports that went viral, illegal mining was being done in Balachaur.

“A permit was already given for the site and it is being checked if the mining was being done at the permitted area only. Prima facie, it appears that no such allegation is true,” said a mining official.

As per information from the Mining Department, another site at Rattewal village was identified during random checking where illegal mining was being carried out.

“We have asked the tehsildar to start demarcation of the area and will take action soon. But there is no such problem with the site which got highlighted in media reports,” the official claimed.

Nawanshahr Deputy Commissioner NPS Randhawa said permission was already given for the site. “I have all documents and it is valid up to October 1,” he said, adding that he would visit the site soon.

Almost every month, several cases of illegal mining are registered with the police. In Rahon, a case under Section 21 (1), 4 (1) of the Mining Act was registered on September 7 against an accused identified as Gurpreet Singh. A tractor-trailer loaded with sand was recovered from his possession. On September 5 too, a case under the Mining Act was registered against one Gurcharan Singh.