Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 2: Five months on, the fate of enquiry into sand mafia is not known. The illegal sand mining has been going on unabated in several parts of Kashmir, which has a severe impact on the river environment.
In a letter addressed to Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, the residents of Vethpora, Soiteng, Batwara, IndiraNagar and Sonwar Srinagar have enquired about the "multi-crore sand and clay scam" in the name of dredging in river Jehlum from Kandizal upto Kursoo Rajbagh Srinagar.
Following which DC office Srinagar wrote a letter to Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control, last year which says, "In this connection, I am directed to request you to kindly look into the matter personally and immediate enquiry about the whole complaint and stop the said illegal activities and furnish a detailed report enabling this office to proceed further in the matter."
However the fate of the enquiry is still unknown. "No probe report has been submitted so far," an official of DC office Srinagar said. "It seems ordering the probe was just an eyewash."
The official said that residents have expressed concern over illegal mining of sand, and claimed that in the aftermath of 2014 floods, the land mafia has been converted into "sand mafia".
The residents had also written a letter to Inspector General of Police Crime, which reads, "As no any enquiry has been conducted by the concerned authorities till date, the involved brokers are still busy in the above said scam and no any action has been taken against them till date."
The residents had complained how "brokers took undue" advantage of the letter pads of the local mosques and the local mohalla committees for extracting the clay.
"They have sold all this sand and clay on highest rates and have collected huge amounts from its sale," the letter reads.
Last year the government has carried out a survey to identify the places in Srinagar for sand extraction to reduce the impact of illegal sand mining on rivers.
The survey report says that river Jhelum is main drainage endowed with sand resources to meet the local requirements of the developmental works of the district. |
