 "Punjab CM trashes AAP leader Raghav Chadha's illegal mining charge")
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday trashed Raghav Chadha's claims of illegal mining in his Assembly constituency and gave a strict warning to AAP leaders from Delhi that no "outsider" would be allowed to raise an "unfounded alarm" in the state.
Channi, who arrived here on Sunday and took a round of mining sites, said nothing illegal was found. He added that sand is being sold at the rate of Rs 5.5 per cubic foot as stipulated by the state government.
His remarks came a day after the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Punjab affairs co-incharge Chadha alleged that illegal sand mining is being carried out in Channi's constituency, Chamkaur Sahib.
The chief minister said no "outsider" would be allowed to create unfounded hue and cry in the state for "vested political interests".
"The government will not hesitate in the future to initiate action against such acts of political ambition," he added.
Channi urged the AAP leaders and workers based in Punjab as also the members of the public to bring any illegal activity to the state government's notice so that necessary steps could be ensured.
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"We have made activities at the mining sites open. Any Punjabi, Punjab-based AAP leader and worker can make a video but we will not allow any dramatic act by an outsider," he said.
Channi, along with civil and police officials, visited the Badi Haveli mining site where desilting work is going on and interacted with the drivers getting sand loaded in trucks about the price being paid by them.
All the drivers said after a policy was rolled out by the state government, the price was fixed at Rs 5.5 per cubic foot and all the documents of mining are valid and thus, claims being made by AAP leaders from Delhi are false, the chief minister said.
He added that he wanted to provide sand at the mining sites for free but due to a contract made in the past, was unable to do so.
The said contract is valid up to March 31, 2022 and people would get sand and gravel at further cheaper rates in the future, the chief minister was quoted as saying in an official release.
Expressing satisfaction over legal mining at the site, Channi lashed out at AAP leaders, including Chadha, for trying to "befool" people on sand prices.
He said Chadha and other "outsiders" would not be allowed to "create baseless issues" in Punjab.
Channi said action would be initiated in the future for such "dramatic" acts of Chadha.
"I have found out that there is not even an iota of truth in the ranting of the AAP leader and that sand is being mined at the rates determined by the state government," he said.
The AAP leadership should channelise its energies on improving the lives of the people of Delhi rather than "meddling in the internal matters" of Punjab, the chief minister added.
He also lashed out at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for his tours of schools in Punjab. Describing it as another example of the AAP leaders' "nefarious designs to find political space" in the state, he advised them to set their own house in order first.
Sisodia visited two schools located in Channi's constituency a few days ago.
Referring to a query regarding the transfer of a forest range officer, Channi said anyone could ask the officer whether he got himself transferred or was shifted by the government.
Chadha had alleged that the forest officer wrote to the station house officer (SHO) and the tehsildar in Jindapur village here recently and informed them about illegal sand mining. The officer was transferred a day after writing the letter, the AAP leader had alleged.
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