The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued an order suspending all forms of mining in the border regions of Punjab.
The High Court didn’t appear to be satisfied with the Punjab government’s response and reprimanded the Bhagwant Mann-led state government for not being serious enough to put a halt on the illegal mining in the border areas of the state.
The situation turned intense when the Border Security Force submitted its final report to the High Court. The BSF in its report mentioned the mining being carried out in the adjoining border regions which is a grave concern for security the details about who is responsible for the act are even not known.
The representative of the AAP government in its response to the High Court said, the Chief Secretary has made a visit to border regions and has conducted a high panel meeting with the officials associated with the mining authority.
The High Court in its reply said there is no sense of worry reflected in your statement nor any mention of the consolidative stand in the affidavit undertaken by the government to stop the illegal mining.
Reprimanding the government’s stand on the case the High Court has demanded the state’s response in two weeks.
During the hearing, the High Court has directed to halt all the forms of mining near the river bed of areas close to Pathankot and Gurdaspur and blamed the state for the inaction.
The court later in its observation went on to say that the illegal mining might lead to the hotspot for the cross-border intrusion of terrorists and drug smugglers.