Demanding suspension of DM Haridwar, HC Semwal, ADM (Finance and Revenue), Ravneet Cheema and Director Mining, Sridhar Babu Adanki and also a departmental inquiry into their roles into the thriving illegal mining in Ganga, head of Matri Sadan Swami Shivanand said such unauthorised activities must be stopped in 24 hours.
He further alleged that the trio is misusing administrative power to help the mining contractors to continue with their nefarious designs. It is pertinent to mention that Swami Shivanand had ended his protracted fast when he was given a written assurance received from the office of the district magistrate Haridwar on 22 April where it was stated that mining would be stopped in the district with immediate effect.
The seer said the DM had not acted on his commitment. “I was at another of my ashrams at Badrinath from 24 April to 13 May. On 7May, I came to know that mining in Ganga had resumed. I cannot be trifled with this way. I would not rest till the mining on mother Ganga is stopped once and for all. The DM must stop these as per the NGT recommendations,” he said.
He further added that as per the fresh and clear instructions given by MoEF and NGT on 9 April, all the mining in river Ganga across Haridwar district should be stopped in 24 hours and fresh survey for mining and environmental assessment impact should be carried out by an independent and reputed national agency.
He also said Chief Minister Harish Rawat should clarify his position regarding the charge that he had put in ‘Sanctioned’ on a personal application forwarded by M/s Krishna Construction of dated 17 March, sans any departmental report.
Dwelling on the ongoing Badrinath yatra, the saint said the pilgrims keep suffering a lot in the absence of public utilities like water supply. He slammed the State Government for using the service of some spurious saints to give artificial pump to the yatra.