Palampur: Mining in Beas, officials plan joint action

Palampur: Jaisinghpur SDM Sanjiv Kumar today said the administration would keep a strict check on illegal mining in the Beas and its tributaries.

The SDM, along with Baijnath DSP Anil Sharma and Jaisinghpur SHO, visited various illegal mining sites and chalked out a strategy to deal with it in the area, where mining mafia had played havoc with the nature leading to large-scale environmental degradation, which had also resulted in flashfloods last year.

The SDM said he had been making efforts to check the menace, but in the absence of cooperation from the Mining Department it was not possible to nab the offenders. “I have requested the Baijnath DSP to provide adequate police force to launch a crackdown on the mining mafia. Stringent action as per law will be taken against persons involved in this illegal activity,” the SDM added.

The Tribune team today visited the riverbeds of the Beas, notorious for illegal mining in the Jaisinghpur subdivision, where a number of trucks, JCB machines and tractor-trailers were seen extracting mining material from the riverbed.

Though the state government has issued a notification imposing a ban on illegal mining in the Beas following orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and subsequent directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the practice can be seen going on in the 2-km stretch of the river.

Residents of Haler village, which was badly hit by the flash floods last year, said earlier it was expected that with the change of government in the state, illegal mining in Jaisinghpur would be stopped. “However, because of the apathetic attitude of the Mining Department, the illegal and unscientific mining has flourished in the past one year under a political shelter. No raw material was left in the leased area therefore, illegal mining was being carried out in the Beas,” they added.

As per the directions of the NGT, the High Court and the state government, the Mining Department is bound to earmark the area allotted for mining with cemented pillars carrying red flags so that the illegal practice is not carried out beyond the leased area. But there are no such pillars or markings in the area. District Mining Officer Rajiv Kalia could not be contacted despite repeated efforts.