Himachal Watcher's video: Shimla: Mining Mafia at Work in Broad Daylight Locals Allege Corruption

Illegal sand mining is a major environmental hazard in Himachal Pradesh. The issue doesn’t appear in news so often, and even if it does, then it doesn’t make much difference. Some locals wrote to Himachal Watcher (HW) and shared some videos and pictures showing JCB machines carrying out sand excavation at two spots on the river basin of Sutlej near ITI college in Sunni Gram Panchayat of Shimla district between 26th March to 28 March. The locals alleged that the entire area is under NTPC and mining is completely prohibited here. But for two days (24x7) two machines and several tippers/trucks allegedly extracted a huge amount of sand illegally in broad daylight. They alleged that when they made a complaint to the concerned mining officer, they were told to call the police. No action was taken. On March 28th, the culprits were seen covering up the ditches created by mining and flee the spot. Locals alleged a corrupt nexus between culprits and authorities is behind such blatant illegal mining with no fear at all. It’s explained at the end of the video how unscientific sand mining is an environmental hazard as it destroys river basins.