Sand, gravel prices capped in Patiala district

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 1

With no clue of sand missing from dozens of villages in Ghanaur, Sanaur and Patran, the district administration has now capped its price at Rs 9 per cubic foot.

The move comes at the fag end of the term of the Congress government in the state after illegal mining worth hundreds of crores in Patiala district, allegedly in connivance of mining official, led to losses in crores to the state exchequer.

It is worth mentioning that with sand worth over Rs100 crore reported missing, Ghanaur and Sanaur have become hotbeds of mining in Patiala district. No action has been taken against any mining official so far.

Following an announcement by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Hans announced that the ‘Mission Clean’ would be strictly followed in Patiala and no one would be allowed to be indulge in illegal trade of mining and smuggling of drugs. “From now onwards, sand will be available at Rs9 per cubic foot and gravel at Rs12 per cubic foot. Besides, the seller can charge reasonable transportation expenses. Panchayats will be exempted from mining soil for using it in development works,” added the DC.

The direction came almost two years after the registration of FIRs into illegal mining in over 10 villages in Ghanaur, from where sand worth crores is missing. The mining and police departments are “officially” clueless as to who pocketed the profits.

With around a dozen FIRs in the past over two years and cases against landowners from where sand went missing, the two departments are yet to identify the persons actually behind it.

An FIR against the same mafia was earlier registered in August and later in October 2020 and the work came to a standstill. “With farmers busy with protests against farm laws, the mafia, in connivance of local cops, became active in the area and plundered sand worth crores last year as well as this year,” alleged villagers.

Rajgarh, Nanhera, Chamaru and Bathonian villaegs, apart from a couple of others, are “hotbeds of unlawful mining”.