Alleging large-scale corruption in granting of mining leases by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) the President of Jan Sangharsh Morcha, Ragunath Singh Negi has said that the corporation had bypassed the tender process of conducting Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of 79 mining leases. He made this allegation while addressing newsmen here on Monday.
Negi said that GMVN granted the EIA of mining leases in four districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri and Tehri to a NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh based company ‘Grassroots research and creation’ merely on quotation. The company was given work worth Rs3 crore without following the norm of inviting tenders. Negi who incidentally is former vice President of GMVN said that Dehradun based state environmental impact assessment expert authority is the designated body for EIA works for mining leases of less than 5 hectares, but to give favour to one company the officials of cash strapped GMVN bypassed the norms.
He alleged that GMVN officials under the umbrella of chapter 04 of Uttarakhand Procurement rule 2008 are engaging in rampant corruption in granting of mining rights. Negi said that a delegation of Morcha would soon meet the Governor of Uttarakhand and demand a high level inquiry into the matter.