From Ropar to Hoshiarpur via HP: 30-km detour as illegal mining damages bridge

However, a visit to the span of Swan, a tributary of the Sutlej, often termed the mining mafia’s paradise, revealed how the traffic had found a way to bypass the bridge by driving through the river bed.

Several pleas have been filed with the authorities by the Public Works Department (PWD), apprising them that mining, way beyond the permissible limit, was threatening the pillars of the bridge and craters, more than 30 metres deep, were formed on the river bank, officials said. However, no action was taken.

A PWD official said they had written to the Deputy Commissioner several times over the past 10 years that out of 13 piers, two — P5 and P7 — were badly affected.

The foundation of the bridge was also exposed due to mining and subsequent corrosion of the bank. Finally, the foundation suffered damage towards the Garshankar site. The PWD then closed the bridge for heavy vehicles, allowing only two-wheelers, the official said.
The sites, including Algran and Nangran, are official mines allotted for mining by the Punjab government. The bridge has been damaged in Algran. According to residents, despite the damage to the bridge to the tune of crores of rupees (according to an estimate), the government fails to repair it and control the illegal mining.

Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira had Monday posted copies of the Punjab intelligence department reports on X, stating illegal mining was going on in some villages at odd hours, with the list of villages in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Taran Taran, and Hoshiapur districts.

Shooting back at Khaira, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retorted on X: “Under the AAP’s policy of zero tolerance against corruption, CM @BhagwantMann has been strictly taking firm actions against illegal mining in Punjab. In the last 6 weeks, Punjab Police has registered 79 FIRs, and 43 violators have been arrested. Also, a Vigilance Inquiry into the alleged collusion of officials in illegal mining has been ordered, and 113 vehicles including tippers, JCB, tractors/trolleys and excavator machines have been impounded. A fine of Rs 28 lakh has been imposed. A permit of excavation has been cancelled and 11 Environmental Clearances have been obtained for legal mining.”

AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang, who is also the party’s candidate from the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, and Algran where the bridge has been damaged falls in his constituency, said that he would visit these villages and impress upon the PWD to repair the bridge immediately.

“It has not been brought to my notice that illegal mining is going on there. I will get it checked,” Kang said.

Amandeep Sharma, Sarpanch of Bhallan village near Algran, said, “The mining takes place in the night. Only two days ago, I made a video of illegal sand quarrying and sent it to the authorities. But no action was taken. There is a nexus between government officials and the mining mafia.”

Sharma added that the heavy machinery deployed for the mining stops in the morning but resumes in the night.

Villages along the Swan have been seeing this activity for over two decades. “We have been witnessing machines, tippers and trolleys crossing our villages since 2007, and that was the beginning of our suffering. We are paying the price for living by the river.

Floodwater enters our villages as the river embankments have weakened due to mining. Strange people are seen in our villages. I can say the mining mafia have gangsters with them. Our girls cannot go out of the house in the evening. The groundwater level has gone down from 20 feet to 100 feet. Water seepage is damaging our properties. Besides, houses sink in now and then,” the Sarpanch said narrating villagers’ woes.

Pawan Sharma, a resident, said, “The physical effects are to be seen by everyone, but psychological effects are visible. The very sight of huge machines quarrying sand and strange people involved in the business taking our sand away had its own psychological effects. We do not know who is filling their pockets, but the sand mining business has stolen the peace of our minds. Just try to understand the impact on our mental well-being and see how our children are growing up in this environment. Police often visit the village after complaints of sand mining. I can tell you for sure that our children do not have a normal childhood. It feels like a war zone.”

Recalling how he was once shot at, the Sarpanch said, “I along with a group of people from the village had taken upon ourselves the duty to stop illegal mining in the night. When we reached the river area, goons of the mining mafia opened fire at us. It was dark and we escaped. The case is still pending with police.”

Another resident Amit Kumar, a shopkeeper, said, “We live in fear as we do not know when an untoward incident takes place.”

PWD Chief Engineer Anil Kumar Gupta, who was asked by the government to submit a report on the damaged bridge, said he had prepared the report and that the bridge was damaged due to mining near it. He said that he had also given a report that the bridge should be closed for traffic as slabs on the bridge had developed a gap making it unfit for use.

Another PWD Chief Engineer SS Dhindsa, whose wing is responsible for repairing the bridge, said, “We are studying the damage to prepare a report on how to get this repaired and the estimated cost,” said Dhindsa, adding for now the code of conduct was also in place.

By the time the poll code ceases to exist, monsoon will be making headway, and the commuters will have to make a 30-km detour as the river will be in a spate and the riverbed flooded.