Despite notice, govt to go ahead with desiltation

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, March 1

Despite the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority’s (SEIAA) notice, the Punjab Government will go ahead with the removal of the mining material from the rivers and rivulets as a part of desiltation.

Erring contractors to face action

We’ll continue with the desiltation work as huge deposits, which can meet the state’s demands for years, are available. If any contractor hired for desiltation is found digging the riverbed, he will face action. Senior govt officer

Last week, the SEIAA had asked the state government to stop the work, saying the mining of sand and gravel was being done under the garb of desiltation. The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority’s (SEIAA) has objected to the desiltation work, saying that for

the past two years, those given the contracts weren’t lifting the extra silt from the beds, but extracting sand and gravel by digging, that too, without getting the mandatory green clearances.

Official sources in the state government have told The Tribune that the process of desiltation, which led to the extraction of sand from the riverbeds, would continue as it was in accordance with the law and Punjab’s policy.

“After getting the approval from the Council of Ministers, the process to desilt the riverbeds was allotted to contractors by the government in 2020,” said a senior official in the mining wing of the Water Resources Department, while requesting anonymity.

After having received the notice from the SEIAA last week, the government is sending its reply, saying that the desiltation was necessitated after a lot of silt had accumulated in the riverbeds, post the 2019 floods.

In its mining policy of 2018, the Congress government had decided to allot mining contracts in seven blocks for 196 sand and gravel quarries. The onus of getting the environment clearance was on the contractors.

Inquiries made by The Tribune reveal that to date, the environmental clearance for only 70-odd quarries has been received, as the process to get the nod after a public hearing has become cumbersome. “One of the other reasons for allowing desilting work was to ensure that enough supply of sand was maintained so as to keep the prices of these minor minerals in check. There may be violations in lifting the sand from the surface as part of removing silt. However, the responsibility to ensure that the contractors lifted only the deposits from the surface and not dig and extract sand was of the district administration, police and district mining officers,” said a senior government officer.

He said though three cases, seeking stopping of desilting work, had also been filed in the courts, no stay had been granted.