DC Rajouri calls for effective measures to check illegal extraction of minerals

RAJOURI, JUNE 26: The Deputy Commissioner, Rajesh K Shavan today chaired a meeting of the concerned officers to discuss with them the issues regarding illegal mining in the district.

Among the others, ADDC, Pawan Kumar; DFO Rajouri, Arshdeep; DFO Nowshera, Suresh Manda; ADC Rajouri, Sachin Dev Singh; ACR, Tahir Mustafa Malik; Additional SP, Vivek Shekhar; ExEn I & FC Rajouri, Sageer Malik; ExEn I&FC Nowshera, Mohd Hussain besides other concerned officers attended the meeting.

The meeting discussed various preventive measures to control and curb the illegal extraction of minerals including sand and bajri from mineral blocks across the district.

While speaking during the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner said that several complaints are pouring in from the general public about the illegal mining being carried out in some mineral blocks of the district.

The Deputy Commissioner directed the concerned officers to ensure that no illegal mineral extraction activities are done in the district and stressed for zero tolerance in this regard and retariated that coordinated efforts are required to curb the menace of illegal extraction of minerals in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner said that the extraction of legal mining shall be allowed after proper permission from the authorities to ensure that developmental works don’t suffer. Besides, he stressed for proper checking at all vulnerable sites to curb and stop the illegal extraction of river bed material.

The Deputy Commissioner said that environment clearance meetings would be conducted for all the thirty e-auctioned minor mineral blocks in the district and asked the concerned officers to ensure the maximum participation of the general public in these meetings so that their genuine concerns regarding mining can be addressed on priority.

The Deputy Commissioner also asked the concerned officers from the Forest Department to carry out a massive plantation drive to enhance the green cover in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner said that community led participation in the afforestation process is a must and asked the concerned officers to generate massive awareness among the common masses about the importance of trees in life.