Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday sought an inquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for allegedly indulging in a scam of collecting less than the due royalty from the vehicles transporting sand and gravel from the mines outside the state.
Majithia said the scam was worth ₹400 crore, adding that only a portion of ₹7 per cubic feet royalty announced by the state government was being collected. He said the government was furnishing the receipts showing undervalued collections.
Addressing a press conference at party’s headquarters here, he also informed that two ‘sand mining mafia kingpins’ linked to the previous Congress government have been allowed to operate again, a month after termination of their contracts.
Majithia asserted that two mining mafia kingpins had been given charge of mining in Punjab in an alleged underhand deal with the purpose of collecting money for the AAP, adding that the state government has “failed” to formulate a mining policy eleven months even after formation of the government.
He also disclosed that the authority to fix royalty on inter-state vehicles carrying sand and gravel has been left to the chief minister. “As many as 2,000 trucks filled with sand and gravel enter Punjab from neighbouring states every day. At least half of the royalty due from them is being appropriated by AAP,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}He also disclosed that the authority to fix royalty on inter-state vehicles carrying sand and gravel has been left to the chief minister. “As many as 2,000 trucks filled with sand and gravel enter Punjab from neighbouring states every day. At least half of the royalty due from them is being appropriated by AAP,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}He further alleged the AAP government had renewed contracts of one of the mining mafia heads on January 27 by awarding him the same zones in Mohali and Ropar, a month after his contracts were terminated.
“This was done despite four cases being registered against him in Ropar district and a CBI inquiry marked by the high court after the ‘goonda tax’ levied by him was exposed by a chief judicial magistrate in a covert operation,” he informed.
Similarly, the other contractor, who was also close to the Congress high command, also faced termination of his contract on December 21, last year which has been renewed on January 31, added Majithia. He said this contractor had also been awarded the same sites of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Nawanshahr, from which he was mining sand during the previous regime.
Majithia added that recovery of ₹26 crore issued to one of the contractors by the Enforcement Directorate for indulging in illegal mining in Mohali and raised queries. He sought to know the fate of the notice, demanding criminal proceedings against the contractor.
Questioning the AAP government’s repeated flip flop on fixing sand prices at the put head, Majithia said the prices were raised from ₹5.50 per cubic feet fixed by the Congress government to ₹9 per cubic feet in August and then reverted to the earlier price recently.
“It is clear that this was done under a deal with the mining mafia and this aspect should also be probed,” he demanded, adding that the AAP government had failed to raise any revenue from sand mining in spite of claims by AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal that the AAP government in Punjab would collect ₹20,000 crore annually.