Matra Sadan head fears for life

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 19

Matra Sadan founder spiritual guru Swami Shivanand Maharaj fears threat to his life from the quarrying mafia, owing to his constant opposition to illegal quarrying on the Ganga riverbed in the district.

At Jagjeetpur village Matra Sadan ashram, Swami Shivanand today said even the ashram phone was being tapped and some people had been seen suspiciously moving near the ashram premises.

Shivanand expressed his displeasure over the working of Chief Minister Harish Rawat on the quarrying issue and said despite giving assurances, Rawat had not taken any concrete measures to rein in the quarrying mafia.

The seer said stone crushers were still operating in a large number in the district while on paper quarrying is prohibited.

The availability of tonnes of stone and related material to stone crushers pointed to a mass scale illegal quarrying going on in the district.

He cited a report of the Central Environment Ministry, which had assessed the impact of quarrying in Rawasan, Shyampur, Bishanpur and other riverbed areas of the district.

Shivanand said the report had made it clear that no boulder flowed in the Ganga in Haridwar from the Garhwal Himalayas as it got stuck at Chaudhary Charan Singh Bhim Goda Barrage near Har-ki-Pauri.

Social activist Ajay Sharma has also demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister, District Magistrate Harbans Singh Chugh and SSP Rajeev Swarup over the mass-scale illegal quarrying going on in the district.