The ‘unofficial’ part of ‘official work’

Rachna Khaira in Jalandhar

The Moga administration claims the quarry in village Bassian is a notified area, but there is nothing ‘official’ about it. General manager (mining) Kuldeep Singh does not have the notification letter, but says it was notified last year. The contractor’s employees keep the official stamp of the general manager-cum-mining officer and also the official logo sticker to be pasted on the receipt by the mining department.

This is despite the fact that mining officials are mandated to thoroughly scrutinize the sand to be filled in a truck. At Bassian quarry, the receipts issued by the contractor bears no the signature of an official authority. 

Kupdeep Singh says since he doesn’t have the required staff, he has to trust the contractor. “We keep a record of all receipts issued by the contractor. It is not possible for me to sign every single receipt issued at the quarry,” he says. But how does he keep tabs on the amount of sand being taken out from the query? He claims his department has online access with the contractor’s site office. “Only after I check the weight of the truck, I give my approval and a receipt is issued.”

Villagers say mining goes on at the site past 7pm, the closure time. Sources in the mining department claim that over 90% of quarrying in these areas is illegal. The district has three major quarries — Bassian, Adraman and Sanghera — and two more have been proposed. The department has only one inspector against the sanctioned six. Deputy Commissioner Dilraj Singh says efforts will be made to foolproof the system by posting officials regularly at the sites.