Uttarakhand to tighten policy to curb illegal mining

Government says changed policy will bring in Rs 250-Rs 300 crore more to the exchequer

Under attack from the opposition over the alleged illegal mining, the Uttarakhand government on Thursday said it would amend the policy to make the mining laws more stringent.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat said, "We will bring some changes in the mining policy in order to curb any illegal activities."

Rawat also said the government would not allow mining on private lease in future in order to stop alleged illegal mining. The government has been repeatedly coming under attack from the opposition for widespread illegal mining of sand and other minerals in the state especially in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

The government had been repeatedly amending the mining policy since it came into force in 2011. The former Bahuguna government had also amended it several times apparently to make it more transparent.

Last year, the government had also set up a sub-committee of the state cabinet to bring private players in the mining business through an open tending process. A section of leaders from both of the mining business which, in turn, would adversely affect the ecology of rivers.

On the other hand, the government claims that the move is aimed at increasing the revenue and reducing the role of the government agencies in the business.

Under the mining policy, the government claims it can earn revenue of Rs 400 crore through tendering process. At present, the government earns only Rs 100-150 crore through the old policy. In a new amendment, the district magistrates have also been given powers to give mining rights up to 5 acres to local youths.

The mining business provides employment opportunities to thousands of people in the state where the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC), the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) are the three government agencies which carry out the mining.

Under the new policy, UFDC has been mandated to carry out the mining at 7000 hectares in the reserved forest. Outside the reserve forest, 1000 hectares of area had been allocated to GMVN while KMVN has been given the right to mine only at 250 hectares. In rest of the civil areas, the government used to give the right of mining to private parties which often lead to widespread illegal mining.