Gurnam Singh comes to the Bela bus stand in Chamkaur Sahib, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s constituency, every day. The social activist and president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) unit in the area meets and consoles his fellow villagers, trying to give them hope.
Gurnam Singh is a worried man these days. He knows that Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey has been sent to 14-day judicial custody in the illegal sand mind case. “This means he can get bail soon,” says Singh.
The prospect is worrisome for Gurnam Singh and my like him in the village who blew the whistle on the illegal sand mining that had allegedly been going on for years in Bela village.
Standing on the banks of the river Sutlej in Bela village, Singh says greedy miners have uprooted trees even in protected forests. “Each truck of sand would get only Rs 25,000, but because of illegal mining, the revenue went up to more than Rs 45,000 per truck. The earning went up in crores and soon Honey was a rich man,” Singh tells News18.
“It just couldn’t have happened without the patronage of bigger leaders like Channi and Akalis. I spoke to Channi and told him about it. But he said nothing much,” Singh adds.
A villager, who wished to remain anonymous, says they were asked to look the other way, and some were even offered money to do so. “We were asked not to ask questions and do our job. Some of the villagers were offered big money to keep quiet and let the trucks go in the dead of the night.”
The success of illegal mining came with flourishing construction in affluent parts of Punjab. As skyscrapers became common, the demand for sand rose and it turned to gold.
Given the increase in demand for sand due to increased construction in the state, the government decided to go in for e-auctions of mines near water bodies. This would have given around Rs 300 to 350 crore in revenue. But illegal mining has shrunk this to around Rs 45 crore as much of the money is siphoned off and actual sand mined is under reported.
The 102 mines, located in 14 districts across the state, have an annual extractable quantity of nearly 2 crore tonnes. Presently, there are 87 operational mines with a total capacity of 1 crore tonne.
In 2017, the main election issue was drugs and unemployment. This time, the arrest of Channi’s nephew Honey has added illegal sand mining to the list. The Congress has backed its CM to the hilt and is going all out to project him as an honest and humble man.
But the issue has given ammunition to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is emerging as the main challenger, and the Akalis. The AAP has already coined the slogan ‘Chor Channi’ and questioned the Congress’ decision to project him as the CM face, while brandishing its own honesty card.
For the Akalis, this is the prefect weapon to hit back at the Congress and question why Channi hasn’t been sacked yet.
Speaking to News18 recently, Channi had said: “AAP has had to apologise to many leaders, for example Nitin Gadkari. They will have to apologise to me as well. I have done no wrong. My poor background is being insulted.”
Away from the politics of it all, Gurnam Singh and others have little hope of change. “They are big people. They won’t even let this become a poll issue. After elections are over, and no matter who comes to power, the illegal mining will resume. The problem will be for villages nearby as during floods, all the water flows into villages since there is no embankment to protect them anymore.”
“This reta ( sand) will blow over the netas. They won’t be touched. And this is the sorrow of Bela.”
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