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Resuming mining activities in Ratangarh village: Tipper owners end protest after government assurance

Ludhiana Tipper Association lifted the protest from near the Laddowal toll plaza site after getting assurance from the government on Saturday. The tipper owners were ruing losses due to restrictions on mining activities.

Published on: Oct 2, 2022, 01:58:01 IST
By , Ludhiana
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Protesting against the state government for the last six days over restrictions imposed on mining across the state, the Ludhiana Tipper Association lifted the protest from near the Laddowal toll plaza site after getting assurance from the government on Saturday. The tipper owners were ruing losses due to restrictions on mining activities.

MLAs Gurpreet Gogi (Ludhiana West) and Kulwant Sidhu (Atam Nagar) interacting with members of the Ludhiana Tipper Association after they lifted their protest from Ladhowal Toll plaza in Ludhiana on Saturday. The tipper owners were ruing losses due to restrictions on mining activities. (HT Photo)
MLAs Gurpreet Gogi (Ludhiana West) and Kulwant Sidhu (Atam Nagar) interacting with members of the Ludhiana Tipper Association after they lifted their protest from Ladhowal Toll plaza in Ludhiana on Saturday. The tipper owners were ruing losses due to restrictions on mining activities. (HT Photo)

MLAs Gurpreet Gogi (Ludhiana West) and Kulwant Sidhu (Atam Nagar) met the protesting tipper owners and assured them that the mining operations will commence in Ratangarh village (Sahnewal) on Saturday.

The legislators stated that as per the mining policy and after consultation with the mines and geology minister, Harjot Singh Bains, the mining operations were started at a site in Ratangarh and the operations will commence at other sites in the coming few days.

Gogi stated that as per the mining policy, mining operations can commence from Saturday. There was a complete ban on river sand mining during the rainy season from July 1 to September 30 in Punjab, but monsoon season has ended and mining operations will now resume and tipper operators will start getting good business.

Gogi had also arranged a meeting between CM Bhagwant Mann and a delegation of the tipper owners’ association in the past.

Tipper owners reach Ratangarh site

President of the Ludhiana Tipper Association Mohammad Ilyas stated that they lifted the protest from near the Laddowal toll plaza site and reached the Ratangarh site on Saturday evening.

“The operations at the mine have still not commenced. The machinery has arrived and we expect that mining will now be allowed by the government. Otherwise, we will again be forced to start an agitation and this time we will sit on protest outside the office of AAP MLA (Sahnewal) Hardeep Singh Mundian. The tipper owners have suffered heavy losses in the past and many of them are struggling to make ends meet now,” said Ilyas.