Riverbed Mining in J&K needs CBI Inquiry ?
The Jammu & Kashmir Mining Department in response to a starred Assembly Question-AQ tabled by Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri, MLA Bijbehera, recently informed the J&K Legislative Assembly that mining revenue has increased over the past three years. In a written response to starred AQ No 490, the Mining Department provided not only incomplete reply but the same is vague and misleading and this has been authenticated by MLA Bijbehera himself who posted the reply to AQ on social networking site Facebook on March 5th. MLA Dr Bashir Veeri calls the response of the Mining Department unsatisfactory and has submitted a notice to Hon’ble Speaker under Rule 55 (i) demanding half an hour discussion on this issue. He further said that the Mining Department has withheld the information to him as the National Green Tribunal-NGT has already imposed a penalty of Rs 1 Crore on the Mining Department three years back.
In response to the Hon’ble MLA Dr Veeri the Mining Department has said that revenue on account of Riverbed Mining has reached to Rs 395 crores in last 3 years which is true but the department also claims that illegal mining isn’t taking place in J&K? If this is true, why a huge penalty of Rs 1 core imposed on the Mining Department by NGT in its March 8th 2022 order and the same was deposited in DC Budgam’s account and spent on Doodh Ganga restoration in 2023? When the MLA sought details of loss caused to the state exchequer on account of illegal riverbed mining in his AQ, the Mining Department again denied this. “There is no report of loss of state exchequer on account of mining activities. On contrary, the revenue from mining including the amount realised has increased over the past three years” reads the response
Revenue Collected
The response provided by the Mining Department say that total revenue collected in the last 3 years amounts to more than Rs 395 crores. Rs 101.17 crore revenue was collected in 2022-23 which rose to Rs 175.47 crore in 2023-24 and up to January 2025, the revenue collection for the current financial year has reached Rs 118.80 crore. The Mining Department in its reply also reported an increase in penalties collected for mining violations. In 2022-23, penalties amounting to 16.34 crore were imposed, which rose to 19.20 crore in 2023-24. Up to January 2025, Rs14.71 crore fine has already been collected. The department has failed to reveal how much disaster has been caused to rivers and streams across J&K and also the loss to state exchequer details have also not been revealed. This needs an independent probe as the loss is much higher than Rs 395 crores. Being the petitioner in five cases of illegal riverbed mining in Sukhnag, Doodh Ganga, Shali Ganga, Romshi and Sasara I say with authority that loss to state exchequer is five to ten times more and the environmental loss is further much higher.
Information hidden
The MLA Bijbehara while seeking a response from the Government wanted to know about NGT’s intervention in the riverbed mining. The MLA’s AQ reads:
“Whether it is a fact that NGT has taken serious notice of it (illegal mining) , if so details of committee report thereof”
The Mining Department hasn’t provided the factual details and refers to a committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment-MoEFCC, Govt of India. In addition, the reply quotes a case from Rajouri wherein NGT took serious notice of some cases and imposed Rs 7 crore penalty on offenders but the said order was stayed in Supreme Court. It is unfortunate that the response provided to MLA Dr Veeri neither talks about the penalty imposed on the Mining Department nor the committee constituted by Hon’ble National Green Tribunal-NGT that visited Sukhnag river in Beerwah on December 26th 2024? If this is the kind of response our bureaucrats provide to Hon’ble MLAs and Legislative Assembly , how can we expect them to provide the correct information to citizens under RTI Act 2005 ?
Pertinent to mention that NGT’s constituted committee in Sukhnag case IA-484 2024 consisting of senior officers from Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change -MoEFCC & Central Pollution Control Board -CPCB & Director Fisheries JK Govt visited Sail and Kangripora villages in Sukhnag on December 26th 2024 in presence of SDM Beerwah, SDPO, Tehsildar, SHO, District Mineral Officer-DMO and other officials. The committee’s report provided to NGT through JK Pollution Control Committee-JKPCC clearly said that illegal riverbed mining has devastated Sukhnag and damaged the trout fish farm of one Perzada Rayees. On the recommendations of this committee’s report the three member bench of Justice Prakash Srivastava (Chairperson NGT) Hon’ble Justice Sudhir Aggarwal (Judicial Member) and Dr Senthil Vel (Expert Member) imposed a ban on illegal mining in Sukhnag on 15th January 2025.
Ironically the company which was involved in illegal mining in Sukhnag for 3 years or more should have been penalized but they are so powerful and supported by Mining Department that they moved to Shali Ganga stream around Raithan forests in Thazwodder & Hill villages to continue the loot of boulders, sand and bajri. I have brought the matter into notice of Dy CM but the officials of Mining Department and District Administration Budgam don’t act ? The NGT in Sukhnag case has now summoned the Deputy Commissioner Budgam in the next date of hearing i.e April 29th 2025.
Conclusion
The riverbed mining across J&K has destroyed our rivers and streams. It has caused huge environmental disasters as water level in streams and rivers has gone down thus impacting the irrigation canals directly plus drying up of springs, tube wells and borewells. The recent details provided by Geology & Mining Department J&K to National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Sukhnag case reveal that mere Rs 1.53 crore have been realised as compensation in last 3-4 years against the 163 short term permits (STPs). Every day 200 dumpers would extract boulders from Sukhnag. This was approximately a loss of Rs 10 to 15 lakhs per day and one can imagine how much loss has been caused to the state exchequer in the last 3 years in Sukhnag stream alone? If the total loss is calculated across J&K this will amount to more than Rs 4000 Crores and nobody speaks about this? The environmental loss is furthermore than this and that is why I demand a CBI inquiry into the illegal riverbed mining that has destroyed J&K’s waterbodies in the last 3 to 4 years.
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow and Chairman / Founder of J&K RTI Movement
