VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 26: The Sahibganj district administration and the mining officer Bibhuti Kumar may be denying illegal transportation of stone chips via the river Ganga, but the documents reveal a large number of stone chips laden trucks were dispatched through ships to Bihar every day from Garam ghat which is illegally operated and managed in connivance with mining mafias.
The internal records of the Sahibganj Nav Yatayat Sahyog Samiti Limited (SNYSSL) for the corresponding period of 2020 and 2021 suggest that on regular basis trucks were loaded on ships from Garam ghat and truckers charged a whopping additional amount other than the ferry charge as notified by the government. As per the contract with the government, SNYSSL runs ferry services on the river Ganga. Hulas Choudhary is the secretary of SNYSSL But the ferry service is managed by some powerful persons.
The records accessed by this correspondent suggest that on a daily basis not less than 200 trucks were ferried to Bihar from this ghat. These are 10 to 14-wheeler trucks. Records suggest that on a daily basis SNYSSL raised something around Rs 10 Lakh to Rs 11 Lakh. It is a public secret that from Sahibganj nothing except stone chips is transported both legally and illegally.
Citing a couple of cases, on December 17, 2020, a total of 193 trucks were dispatched from Garam ghat earning total revenue of Rs 11.42 Lakh. A 10-wheeler truck is charged Rs. 2469 as fair. Additionally, a trucker has to pay Rs 3231. The amount Rs 3231 includes Rs 1500 charged as the miscellaneous amount. Thus, the total fair stands something around Rs. 5700. The fare and additional charge increase with the capacity of a truck. There is no description or explanation of additional and miscellaneous amounts and where amounts charged under both heads go. It is widely suspected that the amount under miscellaneous heads goes to a politically well-connected local lords and babus for managing and protecting illegal transportation from an illegal ghat.
The perusal of day-to-day records suggests that some transporters were regularly given a discount. For instance, trucks of the following registration numbers WB65B7239, BR11E9086, JH04C5153, JH16A6884, JH16B7730, JH02M8093, and some others were given a discount of Rs 1000 per trip.
In the entry record, some trucks are marked priority trucks. There are registration numbers like JH04M1807, JH09AM4815, JH04N/7942, and BR10GB3069 and JH04N7942 registered in the name of Rajiv Kumar who has been mentioned as Mamaji. There are some other trucks BR10GB3983 (Bhulan Yadav), BR11GC2111 (Suchit Yadav). Rajiv Kumar a native of Godda is popular as Mamaji and he is said to be close to Dahu Yadav and Pankaj Mishra.
“Trucks marked as priority or given some concessions belong to people of the syndicate. Garam ghat is illegally operated so no question arises that these trucks had any transportation permit. Even Samda ghat which is a notified ghat, such illegality has been taking place. Stone chips laden trucks are dispatched to Bihar without paying GST and royalty to the Jharkhand government,” said a source.
As per the rule, the district administration and the mining department are responsible to stop the theft and transportation of minerals since it damages the environment and causes revenue loss to the government.
On March 24, an overloaded cargo ship Ro-Ro vessel carrying stones-chips laden trucks from Sahebganj to Katihar met with an accident. It was learnt that a dozen trucks fell in the river and some people on the deck died. None of these trucks had transportation permits.
The SNYSSL has been operating ferry ghats on both sides of the river Ganga namely Manihari ghat (Katihar) and Samda ghat (Sahibganj) as per the contract with the government. According to the terms of the settlement, vessels are to be plied only between sunrise and sunset. But the vessels are being plied at night. Vessels are to be plied between Samda ghat and Manihari. But vessels are being plied between Garam ghat (Sahibganj) and Khutti Ghat (Katihar). Khutti ghat is the illegal ghat where the accident took place.
The distance between the two notified ghats namely Samda and Manihari is only 17 km while the distance between illegally operated ghats is only five km.
After the accident, former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi shot off a letter to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as well as Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren alleging illegal transportation is done via the river Ganga under the protection of the local administration of Sahibganj and Katihar. Against the rule of the Bengal Ferries Act, 1885 ferrying took place even after sunset.
