Illegal mining continues

16/04/2021

Can illegal activities of any sort be carried out on a sustained basis without some or the other support from those who are supposed to and paid from the public exchequer for checking and stopping the same?The Government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is losing huge revenue every month as mafia is fully controlling the illegal trade of miner mineral, while general public is being made to pay through its nose as the cost of material including sand and gravel has gone three times up in just last two years.Administration has virtually failed to plug the revenue losses worth crores and keep a check on the 'open loot of and plunder' of the mineral resources of Jammu and Kashmir. Though Government claims to have auctioned more than 60% of the miner mineral river /Nallah bocks in Jammu and many other districts as well, but the sources in the G&M Department claimed that hardly a few lease have been granted to the parties so far, which has compounded the situation. On the basis of auction the contactors cannot start extraction in rivers and nallahs. They can only go for extraction when lease agreement is signed between the G&M and the contractor. Most of the parties have failed to get mandatory environment assessment committee clearance but still they are operating illegally that too, mainly during night hours.
Material worth crores is being consumed in 57 Kms long Ring Road project worth Rs 1600 crores from Raya Morh to Nagrota being executed by Gayatri Constructions; Jammu-Akhnoor Road project worth over Rs 750 crores by M/s Singla Constructions and M/s Tarmat India Ltd, longest bridge project worth Rs 206 crores on river Chenab at Pargwal, four lanning of highway project from Udhampur to Nashri by Gammon India Ltd, AIIMS project at Vijaypur, expansion of Jammu Airport etc. but majority of the material is being delivered to major companies by the 'mafia' in connivance with some insiders in the Government, causing extensive loss to the public exchequer. Hardly, a few short term permits have been granted for the Govt works. Over 90 % of the revenue is going into the coffers of the mafia operating illegally and some top officials at the helm of affairs, the sources revealed. Despite ban imposed by the High Court on mining activity from Sidhra bridge to fourth Tawi bridge in the river, the mining activities goes on during night and early morning hours. Even the stone crusher operators in the vicinity use their machines during night hours and are carrying on their activities calendestinely. Millon dollar question is How come the mafia and other unscrupulous elements engaged in this loot have any consideration for these irreversible losses caused by their acts and if some officials of doubtful integrity are hand in glove with the people engaged in illegal mining, they must be proceeded against and exemplary punishment awarded to them. What is required is to have all illegal mining of minor minerals stopped immediately.

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