BHOPAL | Nov 14, 2017: In a major decision, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP government on Tuesday threw open the sand mining sector for the common man to "generate employment opportunities and provide sand at cheaper rates".
The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday to formulate a new sand mining policy whereby any individual who requires the commodity would be able to dig sand at will and take it away.
"No one will stop any truck carrying sand within the state," said minister for water resources and government spokesman Narottam Mishra. All that a person needs to do is go to a government portal (website will be announced shortly), pick a sand mine (usually a river ghat) of his choice and pay a royalty at the rate of Rs 125 per cubic metre.
The person will get an e-pass, which he will show to the sarpanch of the village from where he will dig the sand. And thereafter, no one can stop him.
There are a total 1,266 sand mines in the state, of which 445 have been auctioned. This new policy will be implemented in the remaining 821 mines. "If need be, then even auctioned mines will be brought under the new policy," Narottam Mishra said.
Illegal sand mining has been a major political dispute between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress over the past decade. As Congress raised questions on the sudden decision to empower sarpanch of villages with the authority of verifying sand mining passes, minister for mining Rajendra Shukla explained, "The e-pass for mining sand will be valid for four hours within which time the applicant has to take sand and move away. The sarpanch will check and verify the pass to ensure that royalty has been paid to the government."
In 2016-17, the state earned Rs 240 crore royalty from sand mining which in 2017-18 is expected to fall to Rs 200 crore. According to mining minister Rajendra Shukla, the government has a lucrative offer of Rs 20 crore royalty for Rs 1 crore worth of sand.
"But revenue is not the concern of the government now. Of the Rs 125 per cubic metre royalty earned under new policy-- Rs 50 will go to the village panchayat, another Rs 50 diverted to the district collector's fund and remaining Rs 25 will be for administrative expenses of the state Mining Corporation," Rajendra Shukla said.
"Mining Corporation's job will be to implement mining plans, give consent to operate and together with the district collectorate get environmental clearance," the minister added.
To keep a check on illegal sand mining activities, the Mining Corporation will conduct a survey two months before the monsoons to see how much sand remains and then soon after the rainy season to measure how much more sand has collected. "It is in the monsoons when collects in the rivers," Shukla quipped. "A GPS tracking system will be installed in every mine to keep count of the number of vehicles that plied sand."
The government argued the policy is being amended so that the common man can construct his own under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
But Congress is looking at the new policy with critical eyes. "This is Bhavantar Bhugtaan Yojana 2 which benefitted traders and middlemen more than farmers," said the leader of opposition Ajay Singh. "New sand mining policy will strengthen musclemen and middlemen. Till now the administration, government and police could not stop illegal mining, how will the sarpanch fight the mining mafia?"
The Congress leader said that till 2006, the village panchayat was the sand mining authority. "Why did the government change that system then, for who and why was the "thekedaar (contractor)" introduced? The district collector and Mining Corporation will get environmental clearance and that will take a time period of six to nine months. Only middlemen stand to gain," Ajay Singh said.
(Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)