Uttarakhand: Leader of Opposition accused the government, said – The government gave the work of mining operation and fitness of vehicles engaged in mining to private companies, which is harmful for the general public

Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya alleged that the real face of the state government has been revealed by giving the work of mining operations of Gaula, Nandhor, Kosi-Dabka and fitness of vehicles engaged in mining to private companies through the back door. This decision will not only cause loss of revenue to the government but also 3 lakh people associated with forest corporation and mining work will gradually become dependent on food. Arya said that these decisions have proved that in the coming time, the government will auction every profitable work of Uttarakhand.

The Leader of Opposition said that a large part of Haldwani’s economy runs on the Gaula River and other rivers. The mining business of these rivers also affects the economy and socio-economic life of Kumaon. At present, more than 12000 vehicles are registered in the Forest Corporation for the mining business of these rivers. About 3 lakh families are dependent on this business. The state government is trying to end this business in a planned manner by handing over mining to private hands.

The Leader of Opposition alleged that even in the 90s in Uttar Pradesh, the government there had handed over the Gaula River to private hands, at that time there was mafia terror in Haldwani and surrounding areas. He told that it had taken years to free Haldwani from that atmosphere of crime and hooliganism. Once again the government is trying to spread mafia rule by taking away the employment of the local people.

In the course of hearing of the PIL in the High Court, the Uttarakhand High Court has issued a notice to the Forest Development Corporation and the Government on manual weighing of mineral material extracted from the Gaula River and illegal mining.

The Leader of Opposition said that the mining work under the Forest Corporation was being done with electronic forks as per the conditions of the Environment Ministry and the mining manual, and the possibility of theft in this method was zero. Now the private company has discontinued the electronic mines and in its place they are measuring the quantity of mined material and deciding the royalty. This method will increase theft and the government will suffer loss of revenue.

The Leader of Opposition said that before handing over mining to private hands, the government had given the work of fitness of the vehicles used in this work to private hands. Earlier, the fitness which used to be done in a few hours for Rs 1800, is now being charged for several days by a private company for Rs 20 thousand. He expressed apprehension that the government will try to control the opposition to the privatization of mining business by the mining businessmen through the private company providing fitness.

Yashpal Arya said that the government is busy selling water, forests and land of Uttarakhand. The mining rights on our rivers and streams are also being snatched away from the residents here, one after the other private leases are being given in rivers, drains and ponds. These private companies will gradually take away the work of extracting and transporting sand and gravel from the local people.

He said that political parties and organizations which want to raise the voice of the Gaula affected people are not even being allowed to protest. The administration is trying to suppress the voices of people who are opposing this privatization loot by filing cases against them.

Leader of Opposition said that the government gets maximum revenue in the state from Gaula River. There is neither any theft nor illegal mining in this work run by the Forest Corporation of the State Government. Despite this, it is beyond comprehension with what intention the government is trying to give the mining work of Gaula and other nearby rivers to a private company. . The Leader of the Opposition expressed apprehension that after Gaula, the government will repeat this experiment of privatization across the state and take away the employment of lakhs of people. He warned the government and said that Congress will not allow this conspiracy of auctioning the water, forests and land of the state in private hands to succeed. Congress will oppose these “freedom to loot” decisions at every level.