Govt won’t allow mining at cost of environment: Deputy CM

JAMMU: Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Kumar Choudhary, today chaired a high level meeting to review the mining issues related to NHAI projects besides assessing progress on National Highway projects being executed across J&K.
The meeting was attended by senior officers including Commissioner Secretary Mining Vikramjit Singh, Secretary, Public Works (R&B), Bhupinder Kumar besides representatives from key agencies like the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), MoRTH, Project Directors while other officers participated online including RO NHAI, RS Yadav.
The review encompassed critical infrastructure projects especially Delhi-Amritsar-Katra (DAK) Expressway, Srinagar Ring Road, Chenani-Patnitop-Nashri, Jammu-Rajouri and other crucial projects.
Emphasising the critical importance of these projects, he issued firm directives to ensure their timely completion while minimising public inconvenience.
Earlier, the representative from NHAI apprised of the issues regarding delay in permissions related to mining, pending permissions at various levels, STPs for ordinary soil and RBM, and supply of material.
The Deputy Chief Minister assured that all their concerns are under consideration and shall be dealt prominently to avoid any kind of hindrance to development works.
Meanwhile, raising serious concern over illegal mining, the Deputy Chief Minister exhorted that mining will not be allowed at the cost of environment of J&K. “Saving environment is government’s responsibility and we will not allow illegal mining at any cost,” he reaffirmed.
The Dy CM directed the concerned officials to initiate strict measures as per law against those involved in illegal mining across J&K.
Surinder Choudhary impressed upon the concerned to go tough against the illegal miners. He told them to use the provisions of enforcement measures quite rigorously for putting total end to this illicit practice.
Th Dy CM also asked the executive agencies working on various packages to deposit the penalties first imposed on them by the department to get the incessant supply of material. He assured full cooperation to NHAI from the Government prior to clearance of penalties imposed on executive agencies.
The Deputy CM also reviewed various National Highway projects, examining the individual packages, scheduled completion dates and current progress. He specifically instructed the NHAI to expedite project completion while ensuring that public inconvenience is minimised.
Surinder Choudhary emphasized that projects must not be delayed and completed on time to avoid public inconvenience to general public.
In a move to prevent resource-related delays, the Dy CM asked the departmental officials to conduct field visits along with officers from NHAI and ensure that no illegal mining activities are held and hinder the project progress. He asked all the concerned departments and stakeholders to work in tandem and convene regular meetings to resolve issues, if any.