Since April 2020, as many as 123 vehicles involved in illegal mining have been apprehended in the district and about Rs 3 crore has been recovered in fine. Taking cognisance of cases of illegal mining in Panchkula district, Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja directed the officers of the Civil and Police administration to work in close coordination with each other to curb the illegal activities.
In a meeting held on Tuesday by the District Level Task Force Committee constituted to check illegal mining in the district, it was decided that the committee would meet at least once a month to discuss matters related to illegal mining issue.
Ahuja directed the officers of the Police and Mining departments to register FIRs in cases of illegal mining in the district to send a strong message to the people involved in illegal mining. He said that strict orders have been issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), as per which a provision of a fine ranging from Rs 2.25 lakh to Rs 4.25 lakh has been made for vehicles such as trucks, JCBs and tractor-trolleys, involved in illegal mining.
Since April 2020, as many as 123 vehicles involved in illegal mining have been apprehended in the district and about Rs 3 crore has been recovered in fine. Meanwhile, at least 32 FIRs have been registered in connection with illegal mining.
The DC also directed the officials to fix the responsibility of mining guards of the concerned areas in case of occurrence of illegal mining activity.
He further asked SDM Panchkula and SDM Kalka to hold a meeting of the sub-divisional level committee every 15 days to review cases of illegal mining. The officials were also advised to maintain close coordination with ACP Rajkumar, the nodal officer of Police Department for mining-related matters so that the assistance of the concerned police post may be taken if required.
The RTA will now have to submit a list of registered JCBs and excavators being operated in Kalka and Pinjore areas, besides furnishing the details of such machines of Derabasi and Zirakpur being used here, along with the owner’s name, to maintain vigil.
In order to check the inter-state transportation of illegal mining material, the DC asked the officials to ensure that vehicles carrying mining material, while entering Panchkula from Himachal Pradesh, compulsorily have a valid e–Rawana slip.
Mining guards will also be deployed on a rotational basis everyday in the evening, at Police checkpoints set up in the district, so that illegal vehicles are challaned on the spot. At present, checkpoints have been set up at four places, namely Buhar, Rampur, Burjkotia and Khetpurali. The officers of the Irrigation Department have been directed to immediately contact the concerned SDM in case of information on illegal mining activity in their jurisdiction.
The District Mining Officer has also been directed to ensure that required NOC is obtained from the Forest department when granting approval for the mining activities on land under the PLPA. The DC asked the Forest Department to appoint a nodal officer for this work to avoid delays in the issuance of the NOC.