On the second day of the winter session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the opposition accused the government of corruption regarding the closure of stone crushers, which the Chief Minister responded to by stating that while a scam occurred, it happened during the previous government’s tenure and has now been unveiled by the current administration. The BJP is troubled because the government is working transparently, uncovering a 100 crore scam in the stone crusher industry.
However the opposition party staged a walkout from the Assembly on this issue. The dissatisfaction of the opposition was evident following the response from Industries Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan regarding the closure of stone crushers. Meanwhile, reacting over the opposition protest CM Sukhhu stated that the government is working transparently, opposition lacks issues, why the uproar now over a five-year-old stone crusher scam, no efforts made by the Centre to help Himachal, instead trying to obstruct progress.
Amid questions raised by the opposition, Speaker and Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu explained the reason for the closure of stone crushers to the Assembly. A session of questions and answers on this matter lasted for about 30 minutes. When the Assembly Speaker announced the next question, opposition members stood up and accused the government of providing incomplete information about the closure of stone crushers. They began protesting from their seats and later walked out of the session.
Prior to this, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu mentioned that the state government is considering generating revenue of 500 crores from mining. He stated that the current mining policy is causing revenue loss to the government; hence, the government is contemplating improvements in this aspect. Sukhu mentioned that during the monsoon season in the Vyas Basin, a decision was made to shut down 128 crushers, causing no harm to the government as closing crushers till September 15 is a routine process. Regarding the increase in the prices of gravel and sand, the government is considering aligning them with the construction cost.
However, opposition members Vipin Singh Parmar and Vikram Thakur labeled the decisions taken by the government as anti-people, stating that due to these decisions, the public has to purchase gravel and sand at higher rates, resulting in the loss of jobs for 1600 people.
Industry Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan, in response to the primary question, mentioned that considering the heavy damages caused by excessive rainfall in the catchment areas of the Vyas Basin and its tributaries, an eight-member committee has been formed to inspect stone crushers. He pointed out that every year during the monsoon, mining is prohibited in rivers/streams from July to September 15. After September 15, mining activities resume, and only stone crushers remain closed. He clarified that most workers in stone crushers come from other states, with only a few being locals, and once the crushers resume operations, and these workers will be back on duty.”
