Mining mafia from Punjab still active in Indora belt

Rajiv Mahajan
Nurpur, June 8

Illegal mining activities continue unabated in the Chhonchh khad in Indora. Recently, the Mining Department along with the local police had dug up unauthorised approach roads leading to the mining site. However, the mining mafia reconstructed these roads after a few hours and continued with the illegal activity.

The Mining Department along with the police had dismantled these illegal approach roads twice last week by digging big trenches with the help of JCB machines, so that no vehicle could pass through the khad.

However, the mafia is levelling trenches during the night so that loaded vehicles could cross these approach roads for transporting sold finished material to different locations within and outside Punjab.

An inquiry from the Nurpur Mining Officer revealed that on getting information about illegal activities going on beneath the khad bridge, an official communiqué was made with the Public Work Department on May 22 and its attention was drawn towards the illegal activity. However, the department ignored it and took no steps to curb the menace.

Nowadays, the emboldened mining mafia is busy restoring roads during the night and later dismantling the same after the passage of vehicles.

Neeraj Kant, Mining Officer, Nurpur, said that the state government had assigned the responsibility of checking illegal mining to 36 categories of officials of various government departments, but in practical, only the mining and police departments were discharging the duty. He admitted that defiant stone crusher owners in neigbhouring Punjab were forcibly using unauthorised passages beneath the under-construction khad bridge for transporting finished material.