Forest Department dismantles six illegal roads to check mining
Forest Department continued its crackdown against mining mafia in Sulaha, Thural and Baijnath areas where the mafia had played havoc with the nature over 500 hectares of area.
In a large-scale operation launched in the areas, the Forest Department dismantled six illegal roads constructed by the mining mafia through forest land leading to the illegal mining sites on the riverbeds of Neugal, Binwa and other tributaries of the Beas. JCB machine operators were roped in by the department to dismantle the roads. A senior officer of the forest department supervised the operation. Since these rivers are major sources of drinking water in the area, the NGT and state government had imposed a complete ban on mining. However, the mafia was active with the blessing of local politicians.
Earlier, various NGOs working for the protection of the environment had protested against illegal mining in the Neugal and Binwa rivers that had damaged local paths, electric installations, water channels, roads and cremation grounds. A video of mining in the river had also gone viral on social media.
Sanjiv Sharma Divisional, department officer, Palampur, while talking to The Tribune here today said the department would not allow the misuse of forest land for illegal purposes. He said the mining mafia had destroyed the green spaces in the area. The mafia had dug deep trenches in the forest land along the rivers to extract sand and stones. He said the police and the Mining Department should also cooperate with his teams to deal with the mining mafia which had posed a threat to the environment and public property. He said crackdown against the mafia would continue.
Residents of Sulaha and Thural welcomed the action of the Forest Department. They said illegal mining was not only resulting in environmental degradation in the area but was also causing revenue loss to the state exchequer to the tune of crores of rupees every year as the mined material was being lifted without paying royalty to the government.
