Illegal Mining Prevention Vigilance Unit (IMPVU) which was formed by the State Government in December 2013 has slapped penalty of around Rs20 crore on the illegal mining operators who were caught allegedly lifting minerals from the riverbed areas in violation of the laws. The penalty amount has been deposited through district treasury to the State Government.
In view of increasing cases of illegal mining at the behest of the mafias operating in this trade in various parts of the State, State Government formed IMPVU comprising IG/DIG, inspectors, sub-inspectors and constables. Unit head IG Sanjay Kumar Gunjyal was directed to clamp down on it by strictly enforcing the laws. In tune with it, IMPVU teams conducted surprise inspections in various riverbed areas of Haridwar, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and other places and imposed penalty over the past few days.
However, the observers opine that despite police raiding river-bed areas off and on, unauthorised mining keeps thriving in various parts of the State thanks to the unholy nexus between a section of the law-enforcers and those engaged in quarrying mines, flouting laws.
In one such raid, the unit led by its in-charge IG Gunjyal conducted surprise raids in riverbed areas of Udham Singh Nagar and sized three JCBs from the spots. The team found that illegal mining was spread over areas of 18000 cubic metres. Police slapped a penalty of around Rs2 crores on those caught mining illegally. The team members raided the allocated mining plots, stocks and two mining units- New Terai Stone Crushers and Shumbham Stone Crushers located at Pantnagar, Kichchha in the district. Teams, consisting of senior officers from various departments, have been conducting raids for the past two days. They said such surprise raids would continue in the coming days.
It is learnt that during the inspection, the officers found that illegal mining was being done through JCBs outside the allocated plots. Public Works Department engineers and officers of other departments who were parts of the team, measured things and found that it was continuing over large areas, including Shantipuri. Those who were caught mining riverbeds illegally were Nivida Wala, Sandeep Karki, lakshmi Papola, Man Singh, Raju Patwal and Surendra.
Gunjwal warned the horse cart owners who were found indulging in illegal mining, stating that strict action will be taken against them. Those who have been allocated plots for mining would be allowed to do so within the designated areas, he said.
IG Gunjya talked to DIG Kumaon and gave direction to deploy PAC jawans to conduct inspection in the areas where raids had been conducted.
Critics are, however, not assured that such isolated raids are enough to break the backs of the unauthorised miners, given the warm bonds tying local police, leaders and those running the illegal mining show. “It is not that the police are unaware of the illegal trade thriving in Haridwar, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and other parts of the State. In the past, FIRs were lodged against some policemen who were allegedly involved in facilitating mining operators to extricate mining materials from the riverbeds in violation of laws. The nexus responsible for the continuing trade must be broken first before any tangible result can be discernible on the ground,” said one of them.