Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Dec 4:The bidders boycotted the auction of 22 blocks for various rivers of Kathua district which were called by Geology and Mining Department here, today in protest against the mismanagement and slow process of bidding started by the Department which later resulted into postponement of auction.
The Geology and Mining Department had to auction 22 blocks of the rivers for mining purposes in Kathua district barring river Ravi as people had already raised a hue and cry against the auction of the river which has threatened the flora and fauna in the area and depletion of water level up to 100 meters down.
Sources said that 22 blocks were to be auctioned in a single day and instead of starting the process at 10 am the Department started it at one pm with the result the interested bidders could not complete the bank formalities as they had to deposit half of the bidding amount.
Sources said the bidding for the first block of Tarnah river started at 1 pm and it completed at 3pm. The bidder was Buta Singh from Jammu who was asked to deposit half amount of Rs 2.50 crore the lowest bid given by him. The bidder had to deposit Rs 1.25 cr in the shape of a CDR but the process could not be completed at the Bank as it was late hour and it needed more time to complete formalities for depositing Rs 1.25 crore for CDR. This way the bidding process remained incomplete and the next date auction will be decided by Auction Committee headed by DC Kathua, Rohit Khajuria as its chairman, sources added.
Today’s auction was held under the supervision of ADC Kathua, Rashpal Singh and District Mining Officer, Rajinder Singh, sources said.
The bidders who participated in the protest included Subash Sharma, Sarweshwar Kumar, Raj Kumar and others. Later they boycotted the auction.
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