Uttarakhand govt forms committee to curb illegal mining

Amid reports of rampant illegal mining in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat today set up a committee consisting of senior government officials to take effective steps to check it.
To be headed by Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, the panel was constituted by the Rawat at a meeting convened by him in this regard.
Rawat asked the panel to identify the lease holders and areas where mining is being done and strengthen the system of surveillance and enforcement to ensure transparency in mining operations in Uttarakhand, according to a statement.
He asked the committee which also consists of the additional chief secretary, principal secretary to the CM, District Magistrates and SPs of Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts to prepare a roadmap for decentralising the system of examining the legality of mining activities.

The committee will examine all the aspects of mining and make its suggestions to the state government on how to bring illegal mining to a halt, the statement said.
The chief minister has also called for a change in the procedure for allocating mining leases, terming it as an effective step towards eliminating illegal mining.
Opposition BJP has alleged that illegal mining is flourishing in the state due to a nexus between politicians, mining mafia and bureaucracy.