Miners playing havoc with ecology

Nitin Jain

Mining activity is on in Ambala district, especially along the Markanda rivulet in Naraingarh and Begna rivulet in Shahzadpur.

A visit to the area deep inside the riverbed revealed that miners are playing havoc with ecology. The riverbeds have been dug deep at multiple locations and left with gorges.

Local residents said many illegal crushers were operating in unauthorised mining sites and drawing natural resources including sand and gravel without any check.

However, the mining and police authorities are involved in the blame game and accuse each other of inaction. While the mining officials express displeasure over not getting police protection for catching culprits during odd hours and delay in criminal action, the Police Department claim taking immediate action as and when they receive complaint of illegal mining from the Mining Department.

“Acting on the complaints from Mining Department, we register FIRs and initiate further investigations,” said an officer at Naraingarh police station. Mining Officer Sunil Kumar said the department had deputed teams in the area to keep a check on illegal mining and they had been lodging police complaints against culprits on a regular basis.

He said recently they detected mining in Dera, Toka, Sainimajra villages and their surrounding areas in Naraingarh, where crushers were operating without any authorisation from the Mining Department. “We had seized a huge quantity of natural resources such as sand and gravel extracted illegally by the unauthorised persons, against whom we lodged formal police complaints,” he said.

Seeking a major crackdown against the mafia operating in the area, local residents feel that all this cannot happen without the active connivance of influential politicians and authorities concerned.

“Illegal mining is a major problem here and local authorities turn a blind eye towards the racket for obvious reasons,” said local Congress leader Sukhvinder Singh Nara.

Sham Sunder, a local BJP activist, denied any political patronage to the illegal mining business in the area and claimed that it had been continuing for a long time and even the previous successive Congress governments had failed to act against the mafia.

According to official records, on an average, one to two FIRs are lodged in the district on a daily basis for illegal mining.

“The mining and police authorities need to be stricter and should take stern action against the mafia to check the illegal practice,” locals demanded.