Kangra: Illegal mining in Gajj rivulet in Changer area at Shahpur poses threat to water supply schemes

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, June 26

Several gram panchayats have united against unabated illegal mining in the Gajj rivulet in the Changer area at Shahpur in Kangra district. Illegal mining is posing a threat to the local drinking water supply schemes catering to the needs of the local villagers.

Recently, the pradhans of Lanj, Thehar, Manei, Pargor, Lapiana and Harchakian gram panchayats in Harchakian sub-tehsil had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu through the Naib Tehsildar against rampant illegal mining going on in the Gajj rivulet. In the memorandum, the panchayat pradhan had alleged that a number of stone crushers installed near their gram panchayats were playing havoc with the environment and were also adversely affecting drinking water schemes and the adjoining agricultural land. They had stated that if a solution was not found in time, all water supply schemes in the Changer area would go dry. They had also raised the problem of frequent power supply disruptions in their gram panchayats.

The panchayat pradhans alleged that the banned land excavators like JCB machines could be seen extracting minerals from the riverbed of the Gajj with impunity. They lamented that the government authorities and the Mining Department had not taken any initiative to curb the menace of illegal mining on the riverbed. Inquiries revealed that six stone crushers were operating within 12 km of the rivulet and mechanical machinery, like excavators, has created big trenches in the riverbed.

Manjeet Rana, pradhan of Thehar gram panchayat, told The Tribune that the residents of the affected six gram panchayats were getting water supply from three schemes being run through the Gajj rivulet. “The underground water level of these schemes has drastically come down during the past one year and people are facing an acute scarcity nowadays,” he lamented.