OUR CORRESPONDENT
KOKRAJHAR: Illegal mining of sand and gravel from various rivers of BTC has been going on while officials at the check gates of the concerned department are reportedly collecting huge amounts of money and losing crores of revenue.
In the recent budget session, opposition MCLAs Fresh Mushahary and Moon Moon Brahma raised questions on the operation of quarries in BTC. They also alleged that in certain quarries, the illegal mining of sand and gravel has been going on without checks and in Udalguri, sand and gravel are being carried illegally with dumpers from closed quarries at night. They further alleged that the officials of the concerned department were involved. There could be hands of some big fish in this illegal business, they alleged.
In his reply, the EM of Forest, BTC Ranjit Basumatary, admitted that illegal mining was taking place not only in Dhwnsri quarry of Udalguri but in all quarries of the district as well. He said that illegal mining was not a new trend but it has been continuing since the time of the BPF-led council government. He said that the quarries were closed at the order of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (Eastern Zone) on January 17 due to non-submission of District Survey Report (DSR), thereby restricting all mining activities in Udalguri district until issuance of approval from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority of Assam. He also said that the illegal mining of sand and gravel, worth Rs 70 lakh per day, was going on but to check properly, the department has a lack of manpower. He said that only the concerned department with insufficient manpower will not be able to check the illegal activities and therefore, the role of all concerned is needed.
Basumatary said that the annual revenue collection went up to Rs 17 crore only during the Hagrama Mohilary-led government but the annual revenue collection of the present government pegs at Rs 78 crore. He shared the data of revenue collection of the concerned department as Rs 17,78,24,087 in 2016-17, Rs 27,87,72,194 in 2017-18, Rs 25,77,74,,481 in 2018-19, Rs 22,48,70,636 in 2019-20, Rs 20,95,22,888 in 2020-21, Rs 35,56,20,077 in 2021-22, Rs 78,73,65,002 in 2022-23, Rs 40,13,28,030 in 2023-24, and Rs 65 crore in 2024-25.
On the possibility of big names being involved in the illegal mining activities, Basumatary said that no one would be spared if involvement is found with evidence.
Also Read: Assam: Tirobhav Tithi of Damodara Deva to be Celebrated at Maduribil Satra
Also Watch: