The Punjab Government has prepared the first Annual Detailed Report on Mining. This report has also been sent to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. In the report, it has been cited to crackdown on illegal mining and mandatory implementation of all rules and regulations on mining at the government level.
The report said that the Punjab government would use remote sensing data to track and check illegal mining and for this, the mining at the government level would be based on the district survey report. The deadline of 30 September 2022 has been fixed to prepare these district survey reports. By this stipulated date, all deputy commissioners will have to prepare the district survey report and send it to the state-level environment impact assessment authority for approval.
To ensure that there is no laxity in preparing the District Survey Report, the Mining Department has prepared a Model District Survey Report in collaboration with a private agency so that the survey report can be prepared at the level of all the districts on the basis of this report.
The Punjab government talked about the use of various types of digital technologies to check illegal mining in the report. Under this, remote sensing data will be used to scientifically and authentically determine legal mining and illegal sand mining. In this project, 360-degree CCTVs are installed at mining sites. Camera, drone monitoring, transport permits, GPS tracking system, bar-code scanner, and only one entry and exit gate for the vehicle at the mining site has been decided.
To keep a watch on legal and illegal mining, task forces have been constituted at the district level across Punjab. The report said that this task force is conducting site-views of mining sites at the district level, a detailed report of which will be prepared soon. Based on this report, legal action will be taken against illegal miners.