In Anandpur Sahib, illegal mining forms part of electoral narrative

In Assembly segments such as Anandpur Sahib, Ropar, Garhshankar, Nawanshahar, Balachaur, Garhshankar and Chamkaur Sahib, illegal mining in Sutlej and Swan rivers is a major issue.

“We have good quality sand in the Sutlej. The sand sharks have not left an inch of sand and have been digging indiscriminately. The AAP government has promised to nail the mining mafia but illegal mining continues. Sadly, the state’s revenue has not increased much, even as AAP promised to make Rs 20,000 crore from the sand mining alone,” said Rajeev Sharma of Sharma Electrical in Samundra village in Garhshankar.

Sharma added, “It is about easy money. You just need to come at night time to see how tippers and trolleys take out sand from the area. I have my shop in Garhshankar but I live in Nawanshahar. I can tell you about these two segments. There has been no stopping on the menace of illegal mining.”

A few kilometres from Samundra village, Mandeep Singh, a youth from Katwara Khurd village in Balachaur, too, said that sand mining was rampant. “The entire area has been overtaken by sand mining machinery. It never stops. I cannot recall a lull. I can say this government has otherwise done a lot of work but failed to stop illegal mining,” he said.

Jaspal Singh, a resident of Singhpur village, recalled how sand mining never stopped. “We have been hearing about illegal mining for decades now. It has never stopped. The badlaav (change) promised by AAP was not actually a badlaav. What was wrong with Akalis then?”

In Ropar’s Bhallan village, sarpanch Amandeep Sharma has launched a crusade against illegal mining. “Go around and ask any village resident. The mining has not stopped. I tried my best during the regimes of all governments, but it continued.”

Comrade Surjit Singh, a resident of Nangal and another crusader against illegal mining, has made several complaints to the police and administration. “It seems it will never stop. It will stop only once the river stops depositing sand. The banks have been exploited by the sand miners.”

Two former MPs, former PU Students’ Council president & a first-timer in fray

The constituency will see a contest between two former MPs, a former Panjab University (PU) Students’ Council president, and a first-timer, as the candidates of all major political parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress, the BJP and the SAD have filed their nomination papers.

BJP’s Dr Subash Sharma who filed his papers on Tuesday is the most qualified among all candidates in the fray for this seat. According to his affidavit, Sharma has a Ph.D. in Economics from Punjabi University, Patiala, and also holds an L.LB degree.

Sharma, the Vice-President of the BJP’s Punjab unit, is contesting the parliamentary elections for the first time, but he has been working in the segment for the past several years in different roles. He was an observer in some Assembly constituencies falling under the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency.