In Derabassi zone, Mining Department finds 6,500 out of 8,000 crusher bills fake, to initiate action

Recently, the Mining Department had carried out the inspection of the crushers in the area and later wrote to Haryana government for verifying the trading bills after spotting some irregularities.

The Punjab Mining Department has zeroed in on sweeping irregularities in the trading bills of many crushers in Mohali’s Derabassi zone. During scrutiny, 6,500 out of 8,000 trading bills were found to be fake, sources in the department told The Indian Express. The department is now planning to initiate action against the erring crusher owners.

Derabassi is known for the stone crusher zone where 72 crushers are currently operational. These crushers take raw material from Haryana and Punjab.

Recently, the Mining Department had carried out the inspection of the crushers in the area and later wrote to Haryana government for verifying the trading bills after spotting some irregularities.

Mining Department sources told The Indian Express that around 8,000 trading bills of 72 crushers in Derabassi zone were sent for verification to Haryana government. Out of the total bills, around 6500 were found to be fake, sources said.

“Around 1,500 trading bills were found to be correct. It is a huge exchequer loss to the state government, and action must be taken against the erring crusher owners who had fudged the bills,” a source in the department said.

The Director of Punjab Mining Department, Rahul Bhandari, was not available for comments.

Department sources further revealed that action will soon be recommended against erring crusher owners. The fudging of bills could attract legal action against the crusher owners.

The Crusher Union, meanwhile, has taken up the issue with SP (Rural).

When asked about the issue, the president of the Crusher Union, Amarjeet Bansal, told The Indian Express that after the matter came to their notice, they explained it to SP (Rural) Ravjot Grewal and they will be meeting her on Wednesday.

“We explained the technicalities to SP (Rural). Now, we will be meeting the SP on Wednesday to discuss the matter further. I also want to make it clear that these are not fake bills,” Bansal asserted.

District Mining Officer Ravinder Pabla did respond to repeated phone calls.

Source: Read Full Article