Illegal mining in Moga village goes unchecked
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service
Killi Chahal (Moga), July 9
Illegal mining has been going on unabated at Killi Chahal village in Moga district. The sarpanch, along with some panchayat members, has allegedly sold soil worth Rs 50 lakh to brick-kilns and other persons from seven-acre panchayat land (village pond). A local rice miller had also reportedly purchased soil to raise the level of his plot.
Villagers said the soil was extracted and sold during the lockdown imposed in the wake of the Covid-19. A resident said he had paid Rs 500 per tractor-trailer.
Sarpanch Jinder Kaur and her husband Kuldeep Singh, denied the allegations and said they had increased the depth of the pond as villagers feared it could overflow during the monsoon and damage crops. The sarpanch said the soil extracted from the pond was used to level common land in the village.
Villagers alleged that more than four acres (common land) had been encroached upon by some people in connivance with the panchayat and politicians.
Meanwhile, the Rural Development and Panchayat Department has directed its technical assistant to visit the spot and prepare a detail report.
Aam Aadmi Party spokesman Navdeep Singh Sangha has asked Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to get a case registered in this matter.
