Chandigarh:- To curb illegal mining in the Swan River, the Punjab Irrigation Department has prepared a Rs 500 crore project to channelize (pave like a canal) a 20-km stretch of the river up to the Swan Bridge.
Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains said that under this project, the river will be channelized from both sides and water will be stored by building a dam. He said that this will stop illegal mining on a large scale.
Bains' statement came a day after the publication of a study conducted by the Punjab Engineering College on the instructions of the National Green Tribunal. This study has revealed that illegal sand mining is taking place on a large scale around the Swan Bridge in Nangal subdivision, in which an estimated 3.41 million cubic meters of material has been extracted in the last two decades.
These findings, based on satellite imagery and digital elevation models, are a key part of the NGT's proceedings in a case related to illegal mining. Field verification has also confirmed active mining and crushing operations in the area, which corroborates the remote sensing data. According to the study, the scale of sand extraction has increased rapidly over time. Between 2000 and 2013, the annual extraction was estimated to be about 57,000 cubic metres. Between 2013 and 2024, it increased more than four times to about 2,42,000 cubic metres per year. Bains said the government is investigating the facts of the report and will take action accordingly.