ASI official’s letter to RSS prods MP to act

The official team returned fire and the exchange lasted for more than an hour. Though a complaint has been lodged against 20 unknown people the administration felt that several licensed weapons were used to fire at the team that involved IAS and IPS officers. The licence holders will now have to deposit their arms with respective police stations and explain why their licences should not be cancelled.

ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist (Bhopal Circle) K K Muhammed had written to RSS chief K S Sudershan a fortnight back requesting him to stop the illegal mining near the temples because the BJP Government in Madhya Pradesh was not doing its job.

Muhammed chose to bypass his department and the state Government when his earlier letters failed to prod the authorities into action.

But his letter to Sudershan saw the Government moving in quickly to punish those involved in mining. Equipment used in mining was seized quickly but that did not put an end to mining.

Morena Collector Akash Tripathi told The Indian Express on Monday that mining of the flagstone had become a major business in the region, especially in the last few years, due to overseas demand. According to him, a rough estimate puts the industry between Rs 200 and Rs 300 crore.

Tripathi said he was also in the process of getting cancelled two mining leases by invoking Section 4 of the Mining Act that allows the Government to intervene to protect environment or when the activity threatens ancient and heritage cites. The Government had cancelled mining leases but two leaseholders had successfully challenged the decision in court.

Muhammed said he was happy with the steps the state Government was taking since he wrote to the RSS chief. “Sudershan must have taken up the matter with the Government because they were not taking any action before.”