Over Rs 6 cr fine imposed, more than 1100 vehicles seized
Says vigil being maintained to thwart all attempts
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 16: While mining operations in the e-auctioned blocks are being conducted strictly as per the norms and conditions, illegal activities are taking place in the outside areas for which stern action is being taken by the Geology and Mining Department with the support of Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Samba and Kathua districts.
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This has come to the fore from the replies filed by the administration of both the districts before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in response to the order of Tribunal dated July 16, 2024.
As per the reply of Kathua administration, the district is having 19 minor mineral e-auctioned blocks that provide raw materials to the stakeholders. The blocks, which are operational, have completed all the codal formalities and obtained necessary permissions from the competent authorities. Moreover, these blocks are in compliance with NGT norms/conditions as well as departmental regulations.
“The mining operations are exclusively conducted within these blocks. The Geology and Mining Department and District-level Task Force take prompt legal action in case of illegal mining”, the reply said while admitting illegal mining outside of minor mineral blocks. “In addition to penalizing over 600 vehicles, in the most recent fiscal year Rs 4.14 crore in the form of penalties were collected from violators for illegal mining outside of minor mineral blocks”, the reply added.
Pointing towards the information furnished by the police, the reply further said, “218 vehicles loaded with mining material have been seized during the current year and Rs 1.14 crore fine through District Mineral Officer Kathua was imposed. Further, six cases were registered against repeated offenders in Kathua district”.
As per the reply of Samba administration, the district is having 19 minor minerals/e-auctioned blocks and strictly following all the norms and conditions.
“The officials of Geology and Mining Department take prompt legal action in the event of any illegal mining activity. In the most recent fiscals—2023-24 and 2024-25, record number of vehicles, illegal dumps and stone crushers etc were penalized”, the reply said while disclosing that during 2023-24 financial year penalty to the tune of Rs 86.98 lakh was realized while as during 2024-25, penalty of Rs 1.20 crore was imposed and realized. Further, penalty to the tune of Rs 80 lakh is yet to be recovered for which necessary proceedings are already in progress.
Pointing towards the information given by Samba Police, the reply said, “a total of 532 vehicles loaded with illegal mining material were seized and fine of Rs 86.27 imposed by DMO concerned”.
The replies further read: “Mining is completely prohibited within 500 meters of bridges and enforcement teams have enforced this rule on the ground. “The ongoing construction of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway and widening/repair of existing bridges/highways are the reasons for the digging observed in some places close to National Highway bridges for which necessary permissions have been taken by the concerned agencies”.
Regarding extraction of soil from Kahcharai land, the replies said, “Short-Term Permits are being issued for ordinary earth only after following a pre-determined process. Such an activity is permitted if the concerned Deputy Commissioner rants land title or NOC. Only agencies working on the projects like National Highways, AIIMS, DAK etc were allowed tfor the same after seeking all required permissions from the Geology and Mining Department”.
“To prevent the overloading and unlawful transit of materials, mining guards have been deployed at all critical sites and the enforcement staff is always alert and when any vehicle is reported to be overloaded, necessary action in the form of fine and penalty is immediately imposed”, the replies further said.
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