MANALI: The brazen quarrying of sand and boulders in the Beas in Kullu district is giving residents sleepless nights as they fear the river could change its course any time due to flash floods during the rainy season. The mining mafia with its tractors, tippers and earthmover machines are active along the length of the Beas.
They disappear for a day or two after police challan them but return without any fear, say locals. Wielding sledgehammers and shovels, they scoop up tons of sand and gravel from the river bed and its banks to load tractor trolleys, they add. To their horror, the mafia digs out even sand and boulders that protect the river embankments.
Upset with the government for not taking strict action against the mafia, residents of Mahili area in Kullu, which is one of the hotspots for illegal quarrying, have formed a committee to keep eye on illegal activities. It is mostly the influential people who are behind such illegal mining, they allege.
Lal Chand, president of the committee against mining mafia, said, “I live near the Beas and I know how dangerous the river is in the monsoon season. I’ve grown up watching the mafia quarrying lakhs of tonnes of sand and boulders. They fear nobody. When challaned, they return within a few days. The river has already damaged many houses, fruit orchards and government properties. The illegal quarrying helps river spread wider and cause more destruction,” he said.
Beas has already caused destruction along the boundary of Kullu and Bhuntar town and Palchan, Bahang, Aluground, Kalath, 18 Mile, 17 Mile, Patlikuhl and many other villages.
It wreaks havoc in the district between July and September, damaging properties worth crores of rupees. While the government’s project of channelising the Beas failed to take of, the mafia is making settlements close to the river more vulnerable to floods.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said police are dealing strictly with the miners.
“Seventeen miners have been challaned under the Mining Act in the last week of June. While a fine of Rs 49,800 was collected in nine cases, the remaining eight challans have been sent to court. Tractors and tippers used in the quarrying have been impounded,” he said.
They disappear for a day or two after police challan them but return without any fear, say locals. Wielding sledgehammers and shovels, they scoop up tons of sand and gravel from the river bed and its banks to load tractor trolleys, they add. To their horror, the mafia digs out even sand and boulders that protect the river embankments.
Upset with the government for not taking strict action against the mafia, residents of Mahili area in Kullu, which is one of the hotspots for illegal quarrying, have formed a committee to keep eye on illegal activities. It is mostly the influential people who are behind such illegal mining, they allege.
Lal Chand, president of the committee against mining mafia, said, “I live near the Beas and I know how dangerous the river is in the monsoon season. I’ve grown up watching the mafia quarrying lakhs of tonnes of sand and boulders. They fear nobody. When challaned, they return within a few days. The river has already damaged many houses, fruit orchards and government properties. The illegal quarrying helps river spread wider and cause more destruction,” he said.
Beas has already caused destruction along the boundary of Kullu and Bhuntar town and Palchan, Bahang, Aluground, Kalath, 18 Mile, 17 Mile, Patlikuhl and many other villages.
It wreaks havoc in the district between July and September, damaging properties worth crores of rupees. While the government’s project of channelising the Beas failed to take of, the mafia is making settlements close to the river more vulnerable to floods.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said police are dealing strictly with the miners.
“Seventeen miners have been challaned under the Mining Act in the last week of June. While a fine of Rs 49,800 was collected in nine cases, the remaining eight challans have been sent to court. Tractors and tippers used in the quarrying have been impounded,” he said.
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