VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, March 25: The BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry into a massive accident in the river Ganga in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand where a ship carrying over a dozen stone chips laden trucks met with an accident last night.
While a number of people on the ship are feared to have died and many trucks fell in the river, the former chief minister Babulal Marandi said that the accident was an outcome of the illegal stone mining in Sahibganj district. Sahibganj is the home borough of the chief minister and JMM boss, Hemant Soren.
The BJP opposition stormed the budget session of the Jharkhand assembly on Friday forcing Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto to adjourn the proceedings till 12’ O clock since the House was not in order. The BJP claimed that stone chips-laden trucks are illegally ferried to Bihar by mafias who illegally carry out stone mining.
“In July last year, I sent a letter to the chief minister of Jharkhand and the chief minister of Bihar (Nitish Kumar) regarding illegal transportation of stone chips. They are illegally operating and managing the port Garam Ghat. Illegal mining and transportation have been going on under the nose of the Deputy Commissioner and the SP of Sahibganj. Both must be suspended and prosecuted. The Deputy Commissioner claims that the ship was operating from Samda Ghat and not Garam Ghat that’s why I am demanding a CBI inquiry,” Babulal Marandi said.
As the House started, BJP’s Rajmahal MLA Anant Ojha and Bokaro MLA Biranchi Narayan raised the matter and alleged that Sahibganj has become the hub of illegal stone mining and transportation. Even the JMM’s Borio MLA Lobin Hembrom supported the BJP and said that illegal mining was going unabated in Sahebganj. He said that it was causing a loss of revenue to the government.
Parliamentary Affairs and Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam said that he sought the details of the matter and action would be taken. “That much I know that ghat is auctioned and managed by the Bihar and Jharkhand government one by one. For two years it is managed by the Jharkhand government and then passes on the rights to the Bihar government for the next two years. I am gathering details of the matter,” he said.
The BJP MLAs jumped in the well of the House and demanded a high-level inquiry. They refused to go to their seats and continued shouting.
