Punjab’s illegal mining investigation has been handed to the Central Bureau of Investigation after the Punjab and Haryana High Court raised questions about the disappearance of large mountain formations and the unexplained supply of raw material to stone crushers in Hoshiarpur district, according to Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon.
Dhillon said the court’s decision reflected a failure of the state government’s monitoring system. He referred to the court’s observation that mountains as high as 110 feet had disappeared without state officials noticing, raising questions about how excavation on such a scale continued without effective administrative intervention.
The case also involves the functioning of stone crushers in Hoshiarpur. Dhillon said 31 stone crushers were registered in the district, of which 26 were operational. However, an affidavit submitted by the district mining officer stated that none of the approved commercial sites, landowners’ sites or crusher mining sites was operational.
The mismatch between the registered operating crushers and the sites listed as operational was central to Dhillon’s criticism. He said the information raised questions about the source of the material being processed by the crushers and about the ability of local authorities to track mining activity.
“If none of the approved sites was operational, then what material were 26 crushers using? Where did this material come from? These questions expose the shortcomings of government’s monitoring system,” Dhillon said.
The High Court’s intervention has moved the matter beyond a routine dispute over mining permissions. The decision to place the investigation with the CBI indicates that the court considered an independent investigation necessary into allegations involving the scale of excavation and the functioning of state departments. The supplied report does not detail the terms of the investigation, the offences being examined or the next hearing date.
Illegal excavation has direct consequences for the physical systems around towns and villages. Mining in mountain areas can alter slopes and drainage patterns, while excavation in riverine areas can affect channels, banks and the movement of sediment. The impact can extend to roads, bridges, agricultural land and settlements when changes to terrain increase exposure to erosion or instability. The source report does not provide measurements of the affected area or details of any reported damage.
Dhillon said the issue was not limited to potential losses to the state treasury. He argued that unregulated excavation of mountains, riverine areas and land could disturb the natural balance, affect the geological structure of the earth and create risks to public safety.
He also said government departments would not have needed to rely on an independent central agency if their monitoring duties had been performed properly. His remarks were made in response to the court proceedings and represent the Punjab BJP’s assessment of the state government’s performance; the report does not include a response from the Punjab government or the concerned mining officials.
The investigation will now determine how material reached the 26 operational crushers, whether excavation occurred outside approved sites and how the relevant departments recorded or monitored mining activity. The next official findings from the CBI and further directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court will establish the scope and consequences of the case.
