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Himachal Assembly: BJP stages walkout over closure of stone crushers
Sukhu said the govt was planning to mop up revenue of ₹5 crore from mining and proposed to amend the existing mining policy as it was allegedly causing a loss of revenue
Dissatisfied with the reply of industries minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan on the closure of stone crushers, the Opposition on Wednesday staged a walkout in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
MLA Vipin Singh Parmar raised the issue during the Question Hour.
Amid sloganeering by the Opposition, chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu explained the reasons for closing the stone crushers. He said the government is likely to suffer a loss to the tune of ₹170 crore in 10 years due to the mining lease given during the previous government. He said 22 mining lease were given for an amount of ₹7 crore, whereas as per the mining plan, this amount was supposed to be ₹24 crore annually.
As soon speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania called for the next question, the BJP members accused the government of giving incomplete information, started raising slogans and staged a walkout. Sukhu said the government was planning to mop up revenue of ₹5 crore from mining and proposed to amend the existing mining policy as it was allegedly causing a loss of revenue.
Earlier, while replying to the question of BJP member Parmar as well as supplementary questions of leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur and MLA Bikram Thakur on the issue of closure of stone crushers, the chief minister said during the monsoon, a decision was taken to close 128 stone crushers in Beas basin but there was no revenue loss as closure of stone crushers during the rainy season till September 15 was a normal practice.
He said even during captive mining, flaws were found in the permissions of many stone crushers. Therefore, the government decided to investigate this matter.
Referring to the increase in the rate of grit and sand, Sukhu said the government was considering adding the cost of sand and stones in the cost of construction.
Industries minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan said mining remained suspended for two months during the rainy season and the government had formed a committee to investigate the crushers, where flaws were found in their operation. The legal formalities of many crushers were over. He said following a report of the committee, 23 crushers were reopened and the remaining were asked to rectify the deficiencies.
In response to a question asked by Congress member Indradutt Lakhanpal, deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri said an amount of ₹23 lakh has been sanctioned for the construction of a bus stand in Maihar, but the land is not in the name of the transport department. He said land was available in Bhota, and the MLA should tell whether the bus stand should be constructed in Bhota or Maihra
₹205-cr Chamba Medical College road soon: CM
Chamba Congress MLA Neeraj Nayyar raised the issue of construction of the road connecting Chamba Medical College during the Question Hour. He said the government has provided adequate funds for the medical college, but the road has not been made. Answering Neeraj Nayyar’s question, chief minister Sukhu said the government has provided an amount of ₹205 crore for the construction of the medical college. He said after getting technical approval, the government will get the road constructed soon.
Relief given to ineligible persons will be probed: Negi
Revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said an inquiry will be conducted into the relief given to ineligible persons in the Balh assembly constituency. When BJP member Inder Singh Gandhi raised the issue of providing relief money to ineligible people in his constituency, the revenue minister also said he would provide written information on the matter.
Public works minister Vikramaditya Singh has said he is not satisfied with the construction work of the Hamirpur-Dharampur national highway. He said recently, he had inspected the NH and found that the work was not satisfactory despite spending an amount of ₹41 crore on the construction. He said he would raise the matter with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. Vikramaditya Singh was answering a question raised by Chandrashekhar of Congress during the Question Hour.
