हिंदी
State Government’s aim is to ensure availability of construction materials at reasonable prices for the people as well as to stop illegal mining: Mool Chand Sharma
Chandigarh, February 24: Haryana Mines and Geology Minister, Mool Chand Sharma said that the State Government’s aim is to ensure availability of construction materials at reasonable prices for the people, as well as to stop illegal mining. Illegal mining, which results in loss of revenue, has been completely prohibited in the state, he added.
Mool Chand Sharma said that a Special Enforcement Team (SET) consisting of 55 police officers and employees of the department has been formed to prevent illegal mining in the state. So far, a fine of Rs 90.60 crore has been recovered from vehicles seized which were used for illegal mining. He said that the e-Ravana system for its transportation of mined materials is proving to be effective in curbing illegal mining and transportation. In addition, registration of vehicles transporting mined materials has been made mandatory, he added. He said that now loading of mined materials will be done only according to the loading capacity of the vehicle to prevent overloading.
The Minister said that earlier contracts were awarded to big mining blocks but to provide opportunities to small entrepreneurs and to increase competition, the present State Government has awarded contracts to small mining units or blocks as well. Also, e-auction was started to ensure transparency in the process of leasing or contracting mining units, he added.
He said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has received total revenue of Rs 845.94 crore so far during the year 2020-21. It is noteworthy that during the lockdown, mining activities in the state were closed for 26 days, he added. He said that the department received revenue of Rs 702 crore during the year 2019-20.
Apart from this, 4507 vehicles were seized out of which 3351 vehicles have been released. During the last three months, raids were conducted in 12 mines located in four districts by the investigation teams of the department. The license of a mine was suspended due to discrepancies found during raids.
