Illegal mining: admn auctions 24,000 MT material

Going tough against the mining mafia, the Nalagarh administration seized over 24,000 metric tonnes of unlawful mining materials from the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt during the past 48 hours.

Going tough against the mining mafia, the Nalagarh administration seized over 24,000 metric tonnes of unlawful mining materials from the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt during the past 48 hours.

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Nalagarh sub-divisional magistrate Yunus said acting on the directions of the government, a three-member team headed by Nalagarh tehsildar RD Harnot was constituted to check illegal mining operations in the region.

He said the team members during the raid found that the mining mafia had dug up rivers, rivulets and even the government land in violations of the Mining and Minerals Act. The team members during surprise visits found and seized around 8,000 MT of gravel and boulders, stocked by the mafia in Chikni khud, while 16,000 MT at Kundu near industrial township Baddi.

He added that the officials after completing the needed formalities on Wednesday auctioned the material in question and fetched Rs 10.15 lakh.

Yunus said he along with deputy SP Nishchint Negi also made surprise visits at several places and challaned a large number of vehicles and slapped a fine of Rs 89,000 on offenders.

Yunus said besides the auction of mining materials Chikni khud and Kundu, around 4400 MT of the same material was also auctioned at Sheetalpur village for Rs 2 lakh.