Nuh district tops in illegal mining cases in Haryana

: Even as there has been a more than fourfold rise in the First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged across Haryana against illegal mining in the last three years, the highest 239 FIRs (almost 20 cases per month) against illegal mining were registered in Nuh district in 2021-22, according to the state mines and geology department.

And during the current financial year so far, police have lodged 23 FIRs pertaining to illegal mining, apart from seizing 68 vehicles and recovering ₹43 lakh as a fine in Nuh alone where on Tuesday the mining mafia killed a Haryana deputy superintendent of police (DSP), bringing under the spotlight the size and scale of illegal mining in Nuh district.

“In order to prevent illegal mining, we have set up a district-level task force (DLTF) which is headed by the respective deputy commissioners (DCs). It is the responsibility of the DLTF to conduct surprise inspection of areas affected by illegal mining and take stringent action on the ground to check illegal mining in the district,” Mool Chand Sharma, mines and geology minister, said.

Sharma said that as a result of the mining department upping the ante against the mining mafia, already 138 cases of illegal mining (23 in Nuh, 29 in Mahendragarh, 18 in Ambala and 14 each in Gurugram and Sonepat) have been lodged in13 district of the state in last over four months. Not just this, 253 vehicles were seized and ₹1.31 crore fine has also been recovered during this fiscal.

In 2021-22, 910 FIRs were registered, ₹23 crore fine was recovered and 2,362 vehicles were seized in 20 districts during the anti-mining drive, officials said. While the highest 239 cases of illegal mining were lodged in Nuh, followed by 141 in Mahendragarh, 124 in Ambala, 118 in Sonepat, 47 in Yamunanagar and 46 in Gurugram last year.

On the other hand, as per the official data, in 2019-20, the mining department had seized 2,020 vehicles, imposed ₹22 crore fine and lodged 211 FIRs, while in 2020-21 the number of vehicles seized rose to 3,515, ₹83 crore fine was imposed and 539 FIRs were registered.

Illegal mining has been a hot-button issue in Haryana. During the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha in March, Congress had rocked the House and cornered the ruling BJP-JJP coalition government by raising the controversial lease of the Dadam mining site in Bhiwani district and the illegal extraction of minerals. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda had accused the state government of not catching the “big fish” and sought a CBI probe into the mining contract of Dadam mining hills where at least five people were killed and three injured on January 1 in a landslide incident that was triggered by illegal mining.

Expressing shock over the Nuh incident, mines and geology minister Sharma, who is also the transport minister, said illegal mining not only means illegal excavation of mining material but also includes illegal transportation of mining material by vehicles.

“In order to curb illegal mining, we have intensified checking of vehicles and a series of specific directions have been issued to deputy commissioners and superintendents of police,” Sharma said, who often comes under fire within and outside the Vidhan Sabha for not doing enough to stop illegal mining.

“The rise in the number of cases lodged and equally impressive rise in revenue generation has been possible due to the stringent steps taken against the mining mafia,” the minister said.