The Govt has earned revenue of more than Rs 173 crore in this mining season from the quarrying activities on the Gaula riverbed. The regional manager for mining on Gaula riverbed in lalkuan, NK Vaishnav said the mining on the Gaula riverbed will continue till the end of this month. Till now, 35 lakh cubic metre area volume of materials have been quarried from the Gaula riverbed here. The ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change has given permission for quarrying of about 54 lakh cubic metres from the Gaula.
Vaishnav informed that the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation is trying to facilitate quarrying on the Gaula till the end of May.
The authorities estimate that this activity will result in revenue generation of about Rs 200 crore. He informed that during 2014-15, Rs 144 cr revenue was earned from quarrying on the Gaula riverbed. The amount of revenue earned from here had increased to Rs 164 crore in 2015-16 which increased durther to Rs 169 crore in 2016-17. Even though the quantity of quarrying is estimated to be comparatively less this year, the authorities are expecting the revenue generation to rise further to about Rs 200 cr. This time, stringent measures had been taken to clamp down on illegal mining activities in the area. Without a chip provided for the purpose, vehicles transporting quarried materials cannot enter the riverbed quarrying area. In addition to this, eight ex-servicemen have been deployed as guards in the area to ensure that quarrying activities are not continued beyond the designated time period. Such steps have brought illegal mining activity under control considerably, he added.