Sand mafia continues to rule Punjab, says AAP
AAP leader and RTI activist Dinesh Chadha said that a 30 tonne truckload of sand will now cost nearly Rs 40,000 to the buyers, if they buy it legally and only Rs 17,000 if bought illegally.Â
Having won the Assembly elections on the promise that Punjab will be freed from sand mafia and the common people will get cheaper sand and concrete to construct houses, the Congress may not be able to keep its promise as the mafia will continue to rule the state, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said.
AAP leader and RTI activist Dinesh Chadha said that a 30 tonne truckload of sand or gravel will now cost nearly Rs 40,000 to the buyers, if they buy it legally. He said that the Punjab government has now fixed Rs 1000 including royalty to the Environment Fund and District Mineral Foundation Fund. Trucks usually load upto 30 tonnes and transportation of sand or gravel to nearby cities cost Rs 10,000.
"While the legal sand truck will cost Rs 40,000, an illegal truck is available at Rs 17,000. Why would one pay half of the amount to the government when the same sand is available at half the price? If the new mining policy is enforced, the suppliers will resort to illegal mining to lower the prices or to save themselves from losses as the new policy has more taxes," Chadha said.
UNCHECKED UNSCIENTIFIC MINING
The AAP leader said that the state government's new mining policy will also jeopardise the fragile river beds and surroundings because of the unchecked unscientific mining and over-exploitation of natural resources.
"While on one hand common people would pay extra for sand-gravel under this policy; on the other hand, natural resources will be depleted and harmed because of the unscientific methods that are used in illegal mining. The people staying in areas near mining quarries will have to face grave consequences owing to this illegal plunder of natural resources," the activist added.
Chadha, while on one hand appealed to the the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to save the ecosystem, he also requested Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to cancel the auction process and make the same, people, environment and business friendly.
The Punjab government on Saturday had auctioned 89 mines (1.30 crore tonnes of material/sand and gravel) for a whopping Rs 1026 crores. Each quintal will now cost Rs 789 besides Rs 60 per ton as royalty, Rs 6 per ton as Environment Management Fund, Rs 20 per ton as District Mineral Foundation Fund and Rs 125 per tonn as internal transportation between mining sight and crushers.
GOVERNMENT PREPARED TO DEAL WITH ILLEGAL MINING
Refuting the allegations, a state government spokesperson on Sunday said the government has made strict provisions in the new mining policy to check illegal mining and blackmarketing of construction material.
"To curb the rampant illegal mining, the new government has ordered major steps to unshackle the sand mining business from the control of the mafia, with impactful initiatives to bring in greater transparency in the system and processes related to mining. These include physical checks, including the establishment of a robust mechanism at the district level where ADC and SP level officers are working as nodal officers to check illegal mining," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that a detailed review is being conducted every month by the District Mineral Foundation and State Mineral Foundation. The Department of Mining is also mulling stationing of retired Army personnel at mining sites through Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO).
"The department is also strengthening its technological processes to ensure stringent checks at various steps of the mining business, including centralised slip generation system through i3MS system, as used in Odisha and recommended by the government of India. The department is also planning to introduce satellite-based monitoring, for which preliminary work has already been initiated. CCTV cameras will also be used at critical places, for which a pilot project will soon be launched in Ludhiana," the spokesperson said.
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