Himachal to Take Up illegal Mining in Border Areas with Punjab Govt: Minister

The Himachal Pradesh government will take up the issue of illegal mining in the border areas with the Punjab government and also file a petition in the high court in this regard, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan told the Assembly during Zero Hour on Monday.

Replying to a query by Congress MLA Bhawani Singh Pathania, Chauhan claimed that, taking advantage of the border dispute, people from neighbouring Punjab are indulging in illegal mining along the border in Kangra district.

The Nurpur police arrested the offenders many times, but they were released as the border has not been clearly demarcated, Chauhan said, adding that while mining is done in Himachal Pradesh by following the rules, Punjab and Uttarakhand “violate them and indulge in illegal mining without any fear”.

Raising the issue, Pathania claimed a stone crusher was operating at the gate of the Shah Nehar Barrage (in Kangra district) without obtaining permission from the Himachal or Punjab government, and if a total ban is not imposed on illegal mining, the barrage can collapse at any time, inundating several areas in both states.

Seven other crushers are also operating in the Meerpur area of Indora, posing a flood risk in the low-lying areas, he claimed.

Replying to a separate query by BJP member Randhir Sharma, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that ‘Bijili Mitras’ would be recruited soon to cope with the shortage of field staff in the state electricity board.

Sukhu said the government would recruit ‘Bijili Mitras’, as recruitment of staff through Chayan Aayog is a lengthy process.

Raising the matter, Sharma had said that due to the shortage of staff, power supply was being disrupted frequently, causing inconvenience to people, especially students and the elderly.

Responding to a query by Congress MLA Raghubir Singh Bali, Sukhu said the issue of jobs on compassionate grounds will be resolved soon, adding that the income limit for such jobs has been raised from Rs 65,000 to Rs 3 lakh per annum.

BJP MLA from Karsog in Mandi district, Lokender Kumar, raised the issue of losses caused by natural calamities in his constituency, to which the chief minister said the government is ready to provide relief to the affected people across the state.