Central team to probe illegal sand mining in Punjab: Tewari
Monday, 12/08/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130813/punjab.htm#17
Ludhiana : A team of officials from the Union Environmental Ministry will soon be visiting Punjab to look into the reports of illegal sand mining in the state. This was disclosed by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister and Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari after meeting Union Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan in New Delhi today.
Tewari said he had submitted a detailed memorandum to the Union Minister, highlighting the rampant loot of sand in Punjab. He said illegal mining was damaging the ecology of the state.
Tewari told Jayanti Natarajan that the ruling party in the state backed the sand mafia. “The state government claims that if the miners get environmental clearance then they are allowed work at limited number of sites but in reality illegal mining is rampant in the state,” he disclosed in the memorandum.
The minister said, “So much so, the spans of some key road and railway bridges on these rivers have been damaged as sand is extracted using heavy machinery such as huge excavators and earth diggers.” Since everything was illegal nobody bothered to observe any norms, he remarked.
Tewari told Natarajan that the Punjab Government in 2006 during the Congress regime had made it mandatory for miners to get environmental clearance before they began mining.
Tewari alleged when the regime changed in 2007, these norms were thrown to the winds.
