Sukhbir alleges illegal mining in Mukerian
Alleging that illegal mining was taking place under the patronage of Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and certain other Congress leaders, he dared the mining department officials to register a case against him as they had done earlier following his raid in Beas
Three days after conducting a raid on the Beas riverbed in Amritsar district, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal along with senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia and supporters made a surprise visit to sand mining sites at Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district on Saturday.
The SAD chief alleged that illegal sand mining was being carried out in the vicinity of Dhamia, Sandwal and Kulian Lubana villages in Hajipur and Talwara blocks. Alleging that illegal mining was taking place under the patronage of Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and certain other Congress leaders, he dared the mining department officials to register a case against him as they had done earlier following his raid in Beas.
Sukhbir said that brazen excavation of sand had ravaged nearly 10 villages in the area, adding that the land mafia had dug trenches to stop his convoy from reaching the illegal mining sites. He alleged that the local police informed the mafia about his visit to enable them escape in time. He said that where mining was permitted up to 10 feet, the said mafia had done excavation till 200 feet.
“Operators have complained that goonda tax to the tune of ₹10,000 per truck was being collected from them,” he alleged.
“When I exposed illegal mining in Beas, the government justified the activity. Will it also justify what is going on in Mukerian and Talwara? questioned Sukhbir, asserting that he would not be intimidated by false cases against him.
Meanwhile, ridiculing the raids by the SAD president, activist Dharminder Singh, who has been fighting against illegal mining for years under the aegis of Khanan Roko Zameen Bachao Samgharsh Committee, asked why Sukhbir did not act when his party was in power.
Sarkaria trashes SAD chief’s allegations
CHANDIGARH: Punjab mining minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria on Saturday lashed out at SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal saying he was making desperate attempts to gain lost political ground in the state.
In a statement, the minister said the mining sites visited by Sukhbir in Hoshiarpur district were auctioned during the Akali regime. He said the SAD chief was trying to mislead the people as no illegal mining was taking place at these sites. The mining department has already initiated actions against illegal sites in the area, he added.
Hoshiarpur mining officer said the quarries shown by Sukhbir were allotted before 2016 and the department had taken action against these sites. He said that these sites were auctioned by the Punjab government between 2008 and 2011.
The department had served the recovery notices of ₹14,54,400 in Jiwanwal village, ₹40,43,400 in village Bariana, ₹2,30,010 in Dhamian and ₹2,23,050 in Sandhwal, he said, adding ₹1,11,990 has been recovered from Bariana, ₹1,92,000 from Sandhwal and ₹3,03,407 from Jiwanwal, he said, adding that a recovery notice of ₹1,56,35,760 has been issued at Baringali village.