North India’s only rock salt mines located in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district have been shut down due to certain lapses by the Hindustan Salts Limited (HSL) a Central government enterprise.
This was stated in the Himachal state assembly today by the state industries minister Kishan Kapoor after the matter was raised by the Opposition Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur.
“HSL has failed to obtain forest clearances and not paid Himachal’s royalty of Rs 307,100 claimed by the state government since 2003,” said Kapoor.
“Extraction work at the mines located at Gumma and Darang area were stopped on January 15, 2011, by the state government due to non-clearance from the environment and forestry ministry,” the minister said. Kapoor said the mines had 58 million tonnes of total deposits of which only a tiny 14,488 tonnes had been extracted so far. The state government had sent six notices to HSL regarding non-payment of royalty since 2007.
