Atmabodhananda of Matri Sadan continued his fast for the fourth day on Tuesday against illegal quarrying in the Ganga riverbed. He has not been taking any food or cereal and been restricting his intake only to water and fresh lime juice. In keeping with the warning issued by Matri Sadan founder Swami Shivananda on last Thursday, Atmabodhanand had begun his fast on November 38. On the other hand, an organisation named Samajik Sena that seems to have come up to defend quarrying has called for protest against Matri Sadan, threatening to stage a counter stir from Wednesday. The organisation says it favours mining, which gives business to the local traders and work to the villagers.
It should be noted here that Shivananda has been spearheading the anti-mining agitation for a long time, demanding closure of all stone-crushers.
They are, he alleges, indulging in environmentally harmful and illegal mining on the Ganga riverbed in Haridwar district, affecting the biodiversity of the region. However, amidst the agitation, the State Forest minister Dinesh Aggarwal stepped in recently, making it clear that mining would be allowed on all the seven rivers in the district.
Angered over the minister’s declaration, the Matri Sadan head had warned that he would undertake indefinite fast if his demands were not met and mining was not stopped. He further said that the State Government and the district administration had been defying the orders of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal. Calling his fast Tapasya (penance), he said he would not even take water during his upcoming fast.
But till date, neither the State Government nor the district administration has paid any heed to his threat.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Shivananda said, “Illegal mining is being carried out in the river by the mining mafia in collusion with the district administration. Five letters containing evidence of illegal mining have been sent to the Chief Minister’s office. The CM himself had given assurance of checking illegal mining during his last visit to the ashram. Now, if he denies having received the letters it means that the administrative system is failing him,” he said.
Recently, the Forest minister Dinesh Aggarwal had stirred up the hornet’s nest announcing that mining would be carried out over 1,380 hectares near the Ganga and its tributaries like Bhogpur, Bishenpur, Kotawali and Rawasan, which flow through Shyampur and Chidiyapur ranges of Haridwar Forest Division and also near seasonal rivers like Ban Ganga and Peeli Nadi.
Undaunted by the State Government’s determination to carry on with the mining despite the agitation, Shivananda had served a memorandum to the district magistrate on November 4, demanding immediate stoppage of the mining activities following his personal inspection of Bishenpur along with his disciples.
When asked, the DM Harbans Singh Chugh said, “Regulated mining or Chugan (manual lifting) in the assigned stretch of Ganga is needed, as sand and boulders that river water washes down need to be periodically removed to prevent the river from flooding. The mining pattas (mining lots) have been earmarked with the poles and regular monitoring is being done. The Patta owners have legal Patta rights and are doing as per rules. Matri Sadan has raised the demand for prohibiting mining, but we have to listen to both the parties involved and maintain law and order.”
Meanwhile, as a counterpoise to the Matri Sadan- led anti-mining stir, two outfits-Khanan Chugan Sangharsh Samiti and Samajik Sena- have decided to stage pro-mining agitation.
A leading figure of the counter-agitation, Manoj Kumar said that one of their members Sarfard Ansari along with 200 others would launch the agitation on Wednesday from Matri Sadan Chowk to vent protest against Matri Sadan’s stance against mining.
“Mining must be resumed in the interests of the villagers who eke out their living through the activity," he averred.