Uttarakhand Governor has been trying to curb illegal miners in the state.
Highlights
- Uttarakhand Governor has been trying to curb illegal miners
- BJP claims mining revenue during Harish Rawat's tenure has taken a hit
- Officials say their effort to curb illegal mining is showing results now
A month after President's Rule was invoked in Uttarakhand, its biggest non-political impact appears to be the crackdown on illegal mining in the state. The Governor has been trying to curb illegal miners and it is showing results, say administration and enforcement agencies.
Affected districts like Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital are sending reports to the Governor on a daily basis. Over the last month, Nainital has issued notices to recover Rs 73 crore from illegal miners. Haridwar has seized 207 trucks and issued notices to recover Rs 14 crore.
Illegal mining has been a consistent problem in Uttarakhand, with the opposition alleging that crores have been lost under Congress governments of Vijay Bahuguna and Harish Rawat.
Mr Rawat had been accused of encouraging the mining mafia by the nine rebel Congress legislators. Now, the figures are being used against him, as the fate of his government hangs in balance. A hearing is on in the Supreme Court regarding the order of the Uttarakhand High Court reinstating him as the chief minister.
The BJP claims mining revenue during Mr Rawat's tenure has taken a hit. "So has excise revenue. Because the money can either go to the exchequer or to private pockets," said BJP spokesperson Munna Singh.
Harish Rawat had been accused of encouraging the mining mafia by the nine rebel Congress legislators.
Papers accessed by NDTV show for Haridwar alone, revenue figures have fallen ever since Mr Rawat took over as chief minister in 2014.
For the financial year 2014-15, mining revenue from Haridwar was Rs 9.15 crore - a drop from the previous year's Rs 12.21 crore. For the financial year ending this April, the revenue earned has been Rs 9.24 crore. But of that, Rs 1.73 crore was added in March, during President's Rule.
"I don't understand why the BJP is making a big issue of this. It is normal that in March-April, mining revenue goes up," Mr Rawat has said.
Officials say their effort to curb illegal mining is showing results now. "I can call it a shift in priorities, which has helped us in the crackdown," said Harbans Singh Chugh, district magistrate of Haridwar.
"We can't say that illegal mining has come to a complete stop. But now people feel they can't get away," said Kulwant Singh, a police officer from Haridwar.