Punjab Cong to seek central probe into illegal mining
Friday, 16/08/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130815/punjab.htm#2
New Delhi : Close on the heels of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal’s suspension for acting against the sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh, the Punjab Congress has decided to raise the issue of rampant sand and gravel mining in Punjab with the Centre. The state Congress unit will demand a central inquiry followed by a CBI inquiry into sand mining in Punjab.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa said there was evidence of sand mining having been carried out up to a depth of 30 ft in certain river-beds.
“The police, the bureaucracy and the political powers in the state are all shielding the sand and gravel mafia in the state. Justice Kuldip Singh, a former judge of the Supreme Court, has probed the mining issue himself and has given scathing observations on the same,” Bajwa said. Led by Bajwa, the state Congress delegation will meet Environment and Forest Minister Jayanti Natarajan to demand a central inquiry into the issue.
“We want a central team to probe the illegal mining being carried out in the state. Ultimately, a CBI inquiry into the plunder of resources will be required. That is the only way to expose the mining mafia-bureaucracy-politician nexus in Punjab,” Bajwa said.
Punjab Congress leaders allege that nothing has changed despite the e-auctioning of mines introduced recently. There are reports of illegal quarrying in almost all districts of the state with contractors yet to pay several village panchayats, they allege.
