Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Haridwar Sweety Aggarwal has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to curb the menace of illegal mining across the district. SIT consists of seven members headed by Rajesh Bhatt, CO Sadar of the district.
It is pertinent to mention that Chief Minister Harish Rawat had constituted an Illegal Mining Prevention Vigilance Unit (IMPVN) headed by the DIG/IG Garhwal Sanjay Gunjyal to check the illegal mining activities in the riverbed areas across the state. If the sources are to be believed IMPVN proved a failure due to pressure put by influential persons. It has just conducted hardly a dozen of surprise checks to control illegal mining.
Meanwhile, the seer and chief of Matri Sadan Swami Shivanand who has been spearheading stir to stop illegal river bed mining raised question over the efficacy of the SIT being constituted. It is a belated move, he said, asking the SSP to account for the delay in acting.
“They were sleeping when thousands of trucks, dumpers and tractors were getting loaded with illegally mined river bed materials under their nose. The SIT formation is a cheap drama to impress the gullible,” he said.