E-Paper
Punjab fails to stop sand mining going on in garb of desilting rivers
Punjab environment impact authority had flagged the unauthorised sand mining in garb of desilting and issued show-cause notice last month
Even as the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has flagged “commercial sand mining” going on in the garb of desilting Punjab’s rivers, the state government has failed to issue any order in the past two weeks to curb this practice.
The SEIAA had issued a show-cause notice to the chief engineer, drainage-cum-mining, on February 17, 2022, highlighting the large-scale digging and excavation of rivers for sand and directed the department to immediately stop it. According to the notice, such sand mining activities are being carried out in the name of desilting rivers for the past two years without getting the mandatory environment clearance.
However, no action has been taken by the mining wing or irrigation wing of the water resources department to restrain this unauthorised activity. Desiltation is originally the irrigation wing’s mandate, said officials.
An official, pleading anonymity, said: “We are yet to receive any order from the department to stop the contentious desiltation activities. The desiltation works are going on in the rivers and we cannot take any action without the orders of higher officials.”
Passing the buck
When asked why desiltation work has not been stopped even after the SEIAA recommendations, Survjit Singh, principal secretary of water resources department, said: “Mining department secretary Rahul Bhandari is looking after all this work.”
Meanwhile, Rahul Bhandari said the issue is “not in my knowledge”. “The chief engineer is filing a reply to the SEIAA,” he added.
However, Davinder Singh, chief engineer of the drainage-cum-mining department, refused to comment.
The SEIAA had recommended to stop desiltation work after a five-member committee — comprising members of the state pollution control board, state environment assessment committee and Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change — visited the desilting sites. The authority had also received a complaint from a Ropar resident stating that illegal sand and gravel mining was being carried out in the garb of desilting the Sutlej in the district.
