Times of India: Dehradun: Friday, August 28, 2015.
In gross violation of many mining guidelines
including Section 157 of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1963,
which says that the individual holder of agricultural land can only lease the
plot for agriculture and allied activities and not for mining purposes, an RTI
reply has revealed that more than 600 mining leases were granted across the
state in the last three years.
The opposition BJP has blamed the Congress for
this alleged violation and corruption. "This government is deeply involved
in corruption and in violating all the rules and regulations. This scam is
proof that they have nothing to do with the concern of the people," said
Anil Baluni, national spokesperson for the BJP at a press conference in
Haldwani.
BJP leaders also mentioned that at least 113
properties on which the leases were granted were mortgaged with banks. Prakash
Pant, former cabinet minister, pointed out that the individual plots could not
be granted for mining. "First of all, the land which becomes inundated by
water overflowing from a river becomes government property. An individual
cannot enter into any sort of the agreement on his own because he gets
compensation for that land," Pant said.
He added, "Second, if you go through the
documents, it is clear that the individuals entered into an agreement for the
mining of land which was previously theirs but later got inundated by the
river. This needs a probe. How can one have an agreement for land that is part
of the riverbed?" Interestingly, the size of these plots, on which mining
lease were granted, go up to 90 sq yd.
The BJP leaders also alleged that this was a
'multimillion rupee scam' and the Congress government was in collusion with the
mining mafia. "This is not only a big scam but also harmful for the
ecosystem of the region. Riverbeds are crumbling due to excessive
quarrying," added Pant.
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