Dharamkot: Plagued by drugs, illegal mining

Kulwinder Sandhu

Dharamkot is a rural-dominated Assembly constituency with 163 villages and two small townships — Dharamkot and Kot-ise-Khan — broadly spread along the Sutlej in Moga district. It does not have any historical significance in the state.

Past trend

Sarwan Singh of the CPI won the seat in 1977 & 1980. While Cong’s Gurdev Gill wrested it in 1985, it went to BSP’s Baldev Bhatti in 1992. In 1997, 2002 & 2007, SAD’s Sheetal Singh became the MLA. In 2012, SAD’s Tota Singh emerged victorious.

Electorate strength

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Total voters – 1,77,578

Male –  94,141

Female – 83,428

Third gender – 9

Locals’ key demands

• Flood management policy
• Stop illegal mining in Sutlej
• Curb flow of drugs, illicit liquor
• Improve public transport

Though the road network is good in all villages, the public transport facilities are poor. There is no rail link and no service of government buses in the villages. The three-wheelers, commonly known as ‘bhoonds’, are illegally plying on roads without any valid registration by the transport department. Although the Supreme Court in 2011 banned these ‘bhoonds’, the local officials have never taken legal action against them.

The villages located in the Sutlej basin are often prone to floods during monsoon. Some villages are located inside the embankment of the river and crops are damaged during rains every year.

The mining mafia has also made inroads into the constituency. Besides plundering the sand and minerals from the river belt, they have extracted sand from the fields of some local farmers by luring them with money, causing huge damage to the local environment. In some villages, heavily loaded tippers of sand have also damaged roads.

Another big problem people are facing is the easy flow of drugs. Daulewala village, which is often referred to as the hub of drugs, falls under this constituency. More than 400 people of this village, including 50 women, have faced the charges of smuggling drugs during the past two decades. The illegal sale of illicit liquor is also common with the patronage of local politicians. Ranjit Singh of Fatehgarh Panchtoor village says remote rural areas need better education facilities.