Illegal land mining: AAP asks Punjab govt to conduct survey by experts to identify affected areas

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday demanded a survey by experts of the areas of Punjab "affected by illegal mining".[caption id="attachment_3708287" align="alignleft" width="380"] File image of Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption]AAP leader Dinesh Chadha, in a statement issued here, claimed that the geographical conditions of these areas were "changing due to the illegal mining".He referred to Rupnagar district where the groundwater was depleting and said the farmers were suffering due to this as their irrigation tube wells had failed.Chadha alleged that instead of finding a solution in the Assembly to the danger posed by these changes, the Congress government in the state was busy "suppressing the voices of the people".Instead of taking preventing measures, the government was "patronising the illegal mining" in these areas, he alleged.The AAP leader warned that if the issue was not taken care of, these areas might be headed towards a "terrible ecological disaster".It had become imperative for the state Geology department and the Union Environment and Forest Ministry to conduct a survey in these areas and come up with a plan to prevent the destruction of natural resources, he said.