Suhail Bhat
Baramulla, Dec 7: At Khandniyar in North Kashmir’s Baramulla town, the Government departments flout royalty rules and allow excessive riverbed sand mining and dump the illegally mined sand in the land of Irrigation and Flood Control, thereby aiding and abetting sand mafia.
Sources told Excelsior that the leaseholders’ who have been given the contracts to excavate the riverbed sand are exploiting the royalty rules by digging more sand than is permitted in the contract. As per lease they can dig 2648.625 cubic meters of sand from river Jehlum near Petrol Pump Khandniyar for the current year but the sand mafia extracts around 100 times more sand than they are permitted.
“The permission is granted only to deceive people. First, licenses to extract sand are given to political agents and sand mafia who then loot the minerals along with the concerned departments. The miners have been permitted to extract a certain amount of sand but they have taken around 100 times more than they are permitted,” sources said.
Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Javeed Jaffar, said the regulated mining serves two purposes. “One, it cleans the river bed and at the same time generates the revenue for the department. We allow people to dig sand to the extent which is not detrimental to the ecology and if excess sand mining is taking place anywhere action will be taken,” he added.
While explaining the process involved, he said they first demarcate certain patches of river bed wherein they measure the total area and amount of sand which is to be excavated and then invite bidders. “In an open bidding, the permissions are given to sand miners to extract a particular amount of sand. The permission is usually given to the highest bidder,” said the Chief Engineer.
As per the locals, the sand mafias are hand in glove with the concerned departments and it’s the later who encourage them. “Couple of months back, the local administration along with police and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department raided the particular area and ceased their machinery but after couple of days the matter was brushed under the carpet. Next day the sand miners again resumed their business,” the locals added.
Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr Nissar Ahmad Naqash, when contacted said he is unaware of the matter and will immediately depute the concerned people to inspect the location. “If any violations are found then the people involved will be strictly dealt with. Let me see into it,” he said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel