Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
AGAMPUR (ANANDPUR SAHIB)
The more things change, the more they remain the same. In Agampur, 2 km from the Anandpur Sahib-Nangal road, the only impact on illegal mining since the change of guard in Punjab has been the shift in location.
“With the Akalis being voted out, illegal mining around the foundation piers (pillars) of the 1-km Agampur bridge on the Sutlej has stopped, but (under the Congress rule) goes on unabated downstream now. The tippers bringing gravel from stone crushers have damaged the road,” says Ajmer Singh, a villager.
On Friday, over a dozen stone crushers were at work on the Sutlej embankment, crushing stone seemingly extracted from the riverbed at night to evade attention.
Like Ajmer Singh, other voters also see no end to the problem as the movement of heavy tippers transporting sand and gravel has taken a heavy toll on the vital road link in the Kandi area — used by thousands of devotees bound for Anandpur Sahib, Naina Devi and other religious places.
There is palpable anger among voters in the area, part of the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary seat, against successive MPs — be it from Akali Dal or Congress — for doing little to get the road repaired.
“After promising four-laning in 2014, sitting MP Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra credits himself with getting the
stone of upgradation of Banga-Garhshankar-Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi road laid just before announcement of the elections. Only time will tell whether it is a poll stunt or it gets constructed,” quips Darshan Matto of Kandi Area Sangharsh Committee.
And it’s not this stretch alone, the assurance of repairing other roads and improving basic amenities in the area remains unfulfilled.
Surinder of Garhshankar, who runs a welding shop, is the most affected by the dust raised by tippers ferrying sand and crushed gravel from the Agampur stone crushers. “Why is there no check on illegal mining?” he asks. “How can they be so brazen and so unconcerned about the plight of the people?”
Temporary bundhs have been set up on the Sutlej riverbed to allow movement of heavy excavators and trucks, in complete violation of rules. Concrete pipes can be seen buried to allow flow of water.
For the people of Kandi area, broken roads due to movement of tippers carrying sand and gravel in Anandpur Sahib, Ropar, Garhshankar and Balachaur has emerged as a key election issue.
As Rajinder Singh, a resident of Ropar, puts it: “The mining mafia and institutionalised illicit felling of khair trees have assumed dangerous proportions due to political patronage. Only those patronising the activity have changed their political affiliations.”
