news details |
|
|
| Illegal mining continues unabated in Samba | | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 11: As illegal extraction of sand, stone and gravel from rivers in the periphery of bridges in Samba including the religious place Purmandal has been going on unchecked, the mining department Thursday passed the buck on Police and district administration saying it is their job to stop such activities.
"You cannot ask this question to mining department. If the illegal extraction is going on, I can say it is the job of the local administration and police to stop it," Imtiyaz Ahmad an engineer of Directorate of Mining and Geology told Early Times.
He said that the police and the district administration have to take action and stop illegal mining. "Our department does not have manpower. We have few people across the state to deal with issues related to mining and cannot detain anyone," he claimed.
The processing of Mining Leases as well as issue of Licenses is governed by the mining department and according to the sources the mining department over the years has failed to protect the health of rivers in the state letting them deteriorate by Mining Mafia who have been ruthlessly exploiting the natural resource.
One of the examples is that despite the ban of extraction of minor minerals like sand, gravel and riverbed material from rivers and nullahs in the periphery of bridges and other hydraulic structures by the District magistrate Samba, the illegal extraction of minerals continues unabated near highway and railway bridges in Samba. According to the officials sources the illegal extraction is causing serious damage to the environment, creating pollution, lowering water level, flouting restrictions and causing risk to the bridges in Samba.
"Uncontrolled extraction of minor minerals like sand, Bajree and RBM from the local rivers like Devak, Basantar and Balole etc are being extracted while as heavy extraction is going on in the close vicinity of Motarable as well as Rail bridges which is causing damages to the basements and super-structures of these bridges," a source in the department said. As per the norms no extraction is allowed near the motorable and railway bridges within a distance of 500 Mtr both upstream and dowen stream of these bridges and major hydraulic structures and 150M upstream and 100M downstream of the culverts on the local nallahs.
Sources said that the Project Director National Highway Authority of India, Project Implementation Unit, Jammu vide his letter no PD/JMU/CGM- File/VolXIII/14227 has recently conveyed that the uncontrolled extraction of minor Minerals in the vicinity of the bridges on the National Highway is causing damage to the foundations of the bridges.
The local public of Samba said that the uncontrolled extraction of minor minerals from Khaasra No. 1734 of village Birpur has endanger the buildings and while excavation of minor minerals like sand, Bajri and RBM from Devak river in Mandal and Parumandal is going unabated and due to excavation of sand the water level at Purmandal is going down. The water at Purmandal has religious sanctity for having dip dung religious occasions. "As per the law in the state, the restriction applied to rivers and local nullahs within a distance of 1 km periphery of railway and highway bridges, but excavation is going on from near the bridge over the Basantar and Devak rivers that fall along the Jammu-Pathankot national highway. The people alleged that the issue was brought to the notice of the district administration many a time, but no action had been taken till date. "Numerous tractors could be seen being used for digging stones and sand daily in these areas at different points. Neither the Mining Department nor the administration was bothered to the check the illegal mining, which was posing a threat to bridges and hydraulic structures," one of the locals of the Birpur said. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
