Alleging rampant illegal sand mining in connivance with the authorities, the opposition on Wednesday demanded a discussion in the Chhattisgarh Assembly. The Chairman said an adjournment motion is under consideration and the matter will be taken up for debate later.
Raising the issue, Shivratan Sharma (BJP) said the sand mafia assaulted of elected public representatives and officials trying to stop the illegal mining. And officials feared to take action as the illegal miners enjoyed political patronage.
The price of a truck of sand had shot up from Rs 7,000 to Rs 40,000, he added.
Narayan Chandel (BJP) said sand mining was taking place in all rivers in the state. Even search lights were used to facilitate mining at night. Fines were being imposed on villagers but not on miners.
Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik alleged there was a ‘jungle raj’ and massive losses were being caused to the exchequer due to non-payment of royalty.
Saurabh Singh (BJP) said no CCTV has been installed and mining was being done one to two kilometers away from the allocated area. Plans are afoot to send sand by train to other states, he added.
Keshav Chandra (BSP), Dharamjeet Singh (JCC-J) Dr Raman Singh (BJP) spoke of environmental degradation and rivers changing course due to the widespread mining. They said stop-dams gates were being broken to release water for sand mining.
