VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, March 25: The illegal stone quarrying in Sahibganj district occupied the centrestage during the budget session of the Jharkhand assembly pushing the state government into an uncomfortable position amid the accusations by the opposition.
On the concluding day of the budget session on Friday, the BJP opposition stormed the House after a tragic accident in the river Ganga in Sahibganj was reported where a cargo ship carrying over a dozen stone chips-laden trucks met with an accident, last night. Some occupants of the ship are feared to have drowned.
Former chief minister Babulal Marandi demanded the CBI inquiry and said that the accident was an outcome of the illegal stone mining in Sahibganj. He said that stone-mining mafias illegally transport stone chips to Bihar through cargo ships. He claimed mining mafias operate illegal ghat to transport stone chips. Even JMM MLA Lobin Hembrom stood with the opposition and said that illegal mining emerged as a serious threat.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Rural Development Alamgir Alam could be seen struggling to defend and deny the illegal mining operations in the Santhal Pargana division.
A couple of days back, the former minister and Jamshedpur (East) MLA Saryu Roy caught the government on the wrong footing. He asked a pointed question about the status of stone crusher units in Sahebganj. He asked the government the ground on which the ‘consent to operate’ was withdrawn to 69 stone crusher units in Sahibganj. But the consent was again granted to 23 units out of 69. Transport minister Champai Soren had a tough time facing the volley of questions from Roy.
Saryu Roy puts the government in dock over stone crusher units
The government claimed that it was done on the basis of the order of the National Green Tribunal. Minister Champai Soren claimed that the due process of the law was followed. A committee of the State Pollution Control Board examined and verified the entire matter before taking the decision.
Saryu Roy demanded a copy of the report if any committee had examined and verified each case. He sought to know why the closure drive of stone mining was done in Sahibganj only. He even challenged the reply of the minister. Asked, later on, Saryu Roy said in a cryptic tone that he just wanted to point out the wrong things happening in Sahibganj in the name of stone mining.
Local residents said that illegal mining and transportation were very common in their district. “Four cargo ships do the rounds between Garam Ghat and Manihari Ghat. Each cargo can carry around a dozen trucks. The cargo which met with an accident was operating at night when the accident took place,” said a local resident.
Another resident said that a time would come when stone mining mafias would smash all hills of Sahibganj into chips. They would refer to the case of Gadwa Hill to prove their point.
It was once the pride and panache of Sahibganj. It is now slowly reducing to the flat ground full of dust and it now looks like a graveyard. This is not the only hill in Sahibganj that has either vanished or will vanish very soon due to illegal and rampant stone quarrying.
Needless to say, Sahibganj district covering Rajmahal has some of the oldest fossils in the world belonging to the Jurassic period. Illegal mining is not only threatening the heritage of the Jurassic period it has affected the livelihood and habitation of Sauria Paharia, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), that lives on the hills.
Lobin Hembrom has the reason to be angry. Last year he held a demonstration against illegal mining. He also came in support of the tribal residents of Gadwa Hills who had blocked the road.
Even the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in a report (March 2021) had expressed grave concern over the illegal stone mining in Sahibganj.
