Illegal mining rampant under AAP govt: Sukhpal Khaira

Jalandhar, April 8

Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira today claimed that rampant illegal mining was taking place across the state.

To validate his claims, he put forth a report of the ADGP, Intelligence, submitted to the Secretary (Mining) on February 22 regarding illegal mining sites.

Khaira said illegal mining was going on in Tarn Taran, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Patiala and Moga districts. He also shared details of villages and persons involved in illegal mining.

Khaira has sought a white paper from the AAP government on the matter and also the action taken report on the information submitted by the ADGP. “How can the state government maintain that it has controlled illegal mining? Its own senior-rank officer has given all details to the government, including names of the accused, involved in the activity. The Opposition has already shared videos of illegal mining taking place at Sidhwan Bet, Anandpur Sahib and other places,” he said.

Khaira asked, “Where is Rs 20,000 crore that AAP had claimed to generate through mining after coming into power? I do not disagree with them that illegal mining was on even during the previous governments. The AAP has not been able to generate more than Rs 300 crore to Rs 350 crore in this sector. Where is the remaining Rs 19,700 crore?”

Though AAP had been alleging that democracy was in danger in the country, it’s the same scenario in Punjab, he said. “Arrest of mother, uncle and other family members of Amritpal Singh, who is lodged in Dibrugarh jail, by the Punjab Police for planning to hold a Chetna rally in Talwandi Sabo is one such example,” said Khaira.