Punjab Government has built a concrete plan to control illegal mining, high prices of sand and other construction material.
Intervening in the “market”, the State Government has take upon themselves the task of selling sand. For the purpose, the State Government has decided to set up its own sand warehouses, and from there, it will sell sand. “The Government is planning to set up its own sand banks. It will set up the sand warehouses, where the sand will be stored, and sold by the State Government itself,” said Punjab
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal. Sukhbir maintained that the step would not only check the high prices of sand and other construction material, but also control the activity of illegal mining. To set up the first sand warehouse, the State Government has selected ludhiana district as a pilot project, later on which will be replicated in other districts too.
“ludhiana is selected as it alone has 35 per cent consumption of sand,” said Sukhbir. It has been learnt that the State Government has taken the decision mainly to curb illegal mining and control sand prices. Sources informed The Pioneer that it was the transporters who were making big bucks out the entire exercise. The sand prices in the State has witnessed a manifold increase which has affected the common man who has to bear the brunt of these inflated prices.
It was informed that as per the Government policy, the price of a sand trolley should be around Rs 800, while the same was being sold at an exorbitant amount ranging from Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,000 per trolley. Ruling out any illegal mining in Punjab, Sukhbir said that the State Government is stern against illegal mining. “If any report comes about it, proper action is immediately taken against the persons involved,” he added.
Sukhbir maintained that the problem of mining and high prices of construction material stem from the fact that there was a huge gap between its demand and supply. “The number of quarries required for the purpose is not there is in the State,” he added. He added that the State Government is in the process of getting environment clearances to undertake mining operation sin the river beds.
At the same time, Sukhbir blamed the Union Government “for artificial scarcity of mining products”. “The Centre is delaying the environment clearance for years that eventually help the mining mafia. Whenever Punjab Government takes a decision to e-auction mines to ease the supply situation in the State, we get bound by the instructions issued by Union Environment Ministry every second day,” said Sukhbir.
Digging deep into the problem of illegal mining, the Punjab Government has already constituted a special investigation team (SIT) following the rap by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Bathinda range Inspector General Nirmal Singh Dhillon has been heading the SIT with Ropar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Indermohan Singh, and Joint Director, Industries, Vishav Bandhu as its members. Besides, the State Government has also set up three 24X7 help lines — one with SIT chairperson, and others with Ropar SSP and Mining Director — to enable citizens to report cases of illegal mining immediately.
In addition, Deputy Chief Minister has already directed all the Deputy Commissioners across the State to take “immediate effective measures” to check illegal mining and stabilize sand-gravel prices. In fact, Sukhbir had asked the districts’ administrative heads to personally monitor the availability of mining material to the public at “reasonable prices”. They have also been asked to assure working of all auctioned mines at their full capacity to check that artificial scarcity not be created. Directions have also been issued to the state Irrigation Department to conduct statewide riverbed mapping to identify suitable spots for the dragging of sand.