Taking cognisance of allegations of illegal quarrying in Song and Ukhi rivers in Motichur area inside Rajaji national park, the chief wildlife warden has sought an explanation from the national park’s field director on whether there was a written order directing quarrying for stones to build an embankment. However, officials of the department and District administration have refuted the allegations and stressed that only the Irrigation Department is using the stones needed to prevent a settlement from being flooded.
To protect Gohri Mafi settlement from the threat of flood, Dehradun district magistrate BVRC Purushottam ordered the Irrigation Department to collect stones from the rivers to build embankments.
Responding to the allegations of illegal mining, the DM said that only the Irrigation Department was collecting stones for work in the immediate vicinity and no one else was being allowed to do so. “Without the embankment, the Gohri Mafi settlement would be washed away if the iver floods.
The area is such that it is not possible for people to indulge in illegal quarrying as it would be tough to transport the material,” he added. Rajaji field director SP Subudhi said that department personnel along with district administration officers were themselves monitoring the quarrying for stones.
“A government order states that district magistrates have been given powers under the Disaster Management Act which were exercised by the Dehradun DM for facilitating the construction of embankments. Copies of this order were sent to the principal chief conservator of forests and the PCCF (Wildlife) among others. The activity is being monitored and there is no illegal quarrying going on,” he stressed.
However, some local activists have alleged that while the Irrigation department is collecting stones for flood protection works, some locals including owners of Ashrams are quarrying for stones and sand. Some locals are also allegedly violating the regulation, state the activists.
Talking to The Pioneer, chief wildlife warden SS Sharma said that he had asked the Rajaji administration whether there was any written order allowing the Irrigation Department to quarry for stones inside the national park.