Jammu, April 8: Principal Secretary, Irrigation & Flood Control (I&FC) and Mining, Ashok Kumar Parmar today chaired a meeting in his office chambers to discuss implementation and status of Court directions to check the menace of illegal mining in river Tawi Bed area.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary Forest, Ecology and Environment, Sanjeev Verma; Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Anshul Garg; Director, Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing, J&K; Member Secretary, Pollution Control Committee; Director, Geology & Mining, J&K; Managing Director, J&K Minerals Ltd.; Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Jammu; Joint Director, Geology and Mining; Senior Law Officer and District Mineral Officer, Jammu.
In the meeting, the Principal Secretary was informed about various steps taken by the Department for implementation of the directions of Court. It was informed that vide Government Order No. 15-MNG of 2021 dated 04-05-2021, a four member Committee under the Chairmanship of Director, Geology and Mining was constituted by the Government for in-depth examination of illegal mining activities and operations of Stone Crusher Units in violation of Rules in River Tawi.
Further, vide Government Order No. 458-JK (GAD) of 2021 dated 21.05.2021, another Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of Director, Environment, Ecology & Remote Sensing to examine the issue of formation of shoals in River Tawi, besides, to suggest measures for removal of shoals to prevent likely damage to the embankment & habitation on both banks of River Tawi in and around Jammu City. Vide Govt. Order. No. 1018-JK(GAD) of 2020 dated 29-10-2020, a Special Task Force was constituted by the Government to check the menace of illegal extraction of Sand and other Minor Minerals from the bank of River Tawi and its tributaries
Principal Secretary advised Director, Geology and Mining to strictly plug the various entry and exit points to ensure implementation of directions of Court in letter and spirit. Director informed that five Mineral Check Posts have been installed by the Department at Nagrota, Sidhra, Bhagatpur, Phlain Mandal and Belicharana areas to check the extraction and transportation of Minor Minerals from the bed of the River Tawi.
The Principal Secretary also advised Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control to undertake channelization operation in a systematic manner keeping in view aesthetic considerations. Maintenance and removal of RBM may be undertaken by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department departmentally in consultation with the Geology and Mining Department immediately.
