Illegal mining sites raided, 40 crushers found in Mohali

MOHALI: Deputy commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra on Sunday conducted surprise checks at illegal mining sites in Khizrabad village under Kharar sub-division.
The DC said she came to know that over 400 acres of forest land had been dug up as deep as 50 foot and 35 to 40 stone crushers were operating in the area. She said she raided the area following complaints filed by residents of villages in and around illegal mining sites.
“We found over 400 acres of government land is being ille gally mined.We also found 35 to 40 illegal stone crushers. At many places, JCBs were found in forest. We will prepare a report and send it to the Punjab government. We will also direct SSP to take action against the miners,“ she said. Deputy commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said, “Ground officers are to be blamed for no vigil on illegal mining. Junior officers of all three departments --forests, revenue and panchayati raj -have not performed their duties. We will also question them for not informing officials about the activity on time.“ She blamed illegal mining in the area on irresponsibility of officers and said strict action would be taken against them.
Sapra said she has been appraised of illegal mining at Khizrabad after the crackdown on miners in Zirakpur.“As this area has more potential due to seasonal rivulets and shamlat land, illegal mining activity has increased here in the past few months. According to our reports, two years ago, mining was not that mechanised.But now there are crushers.“