The Uttarakhand government has decided to bring a new mining/quarrying policy (locally known as khanan) by the end of this month, to end the foothold of the illegal operators which cause considerable revenue loss to the state.
This was decided by Chief Minister B C Khanduri following a high-level meeting. A new mining/quarrying policy would be propounded and implemented in November 2011 itself in order to stop illegal mining and preserve environment, Khanduri said. He also added that the pattas will be allotted in a transparent manner and efforts will be made to end corruption and increase revenue. Khanduri told the state officials to explore options for increasing revenue from the mining business in view of the tight financial position of the state.
Principal Secretary, Industries Rakesh Sharma said a fresh survey is being conducted to identify mining areas in the state and all the district magistrates have been asked to send their reports in this regard. District Magistrate Dilip Jawalkar said a total of 900 hectare of area has been identified in Dehra Dun alone for mining purposes.
A section of the forest officials are of the view that the mining through auction process can provide higher revenue generation to the hill state to the tune of Rs 300-400 crore. At present, the government only earns Rs 100-150 crore through the collection of stones, boulders and other minor minerals from various rivers that include the mighty Ganga in the state. “Our Chief Minister has asked us to increase the revenue from the mining sector and auction is the best bet,” said an official.
The mining business provides employment opportunities to thousands of people in the hill state where the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC) and the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) are the two main government mining agencies. While UFDC has been mandated to carry out the mining only in the reserved forest, outside the reserve forest, certain areas have been allocated to GMVN. In rest of the civil areas, the government gives the right of mining to private parties which often lead to widespread illegal mining.
Due to strict environment norms and court orders, the river-bed mining was virtually banned in forest and other areas early this year. Following the ban, the prices of construction materials had gone up considerably which was putting a lot of pressure on the margins of real-estate companies.
The mining activities would only commence in the state after the release of the new policy, Sharma said.
Environmentalists here feel that the river-bed mining helps in checking floods in the river due to over-deposition of boulders, silt and other sandy materials.
