As CM lobbied, Centre went against rules, courts to allow river mining in Uttarakhand https://www.reporters-collective.in/trc/as-cm-lobbied-centre-went-against-rules-courts-to-allow-river-mining-in-uttarakhand Tapasya & Aggam Walia July 17, 2023
Before the onset of monsoon, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami personally lobbied with the Centre to keep mining four rivers. The Centre, ruled by his fellow partymen, fulfilled his demand in breach of critical environmental safeguards.
One of the four rivers is Gaula, which is a lifeline for the state’s populous and commercially prosperous city of Haldwani. The river is dying. During the lean season, most of its length is hardly more than a shallow and sometimes bone-dry due to deforestation, excessive mining and pollution..
Documents show the Union government repeatedly approved mining in Gaula despite the state government’s failure to comply with terms to protect the environment. ...Moreover, the permission to mine was granted overlooking the errant miner’s history of flouting multiple norms as it dug up boulders, sand, gravel and other minerals from the rivers for the past decade...
Documents show the Union government repeatedly approved mining in Gaula despite the state government’s failure to comply with terms to protect the environment...Moreover, the permission to mine was granted overlooking the errant miner’s history of flouting multiple norms as it dug up boulders, sand, gravel and other minerals from the rivers for the past decade.