After resentment among locals, J&K mulls cancelling auction of mineral blocks

After widespread resentment among locals, Jammu and Kashmir government is mulling cancelling 58 e-auctioned minor mineral blocks of the river Jhelum that were allotted to outside companies last year.

As the outside companies also failed to get environmental clearance (EC), the union territories Geology and Mining department is now contemplating opening these blocks for traditional mining by locals.

According to the minutes (No: 986/MCC/DGM/GMM/20/1284-85 dated 15-06-2021) of the recently held meeting of the Geology and Mining department, it was decided to revive the traditional, customary sand mining by identifying the rightful beneficiaries.

“The proposal, once finalised, shall be forwarded to GOI (government of India) for consideration,” the minutes of the meeting read. If the e-auction process is cancelled, the successful bidders will be refunded the 50% bid amount of these blocks.

Till the special status of J&K under Article 370 was revoked on 5 August 2019, the rights for extraction of the minerals were exclusively reserved with local contractors.

In 2020, when high speed internet services in J&K were suspended, the UT administration had e-auctioned around 100 sand blocks along the Jhelum and its tributaries. Most of these blocks were bagged by companies from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan leaving thousands of people from contractors to sand diggers, labourers and transporters without livelihoods.

The newly introduced e-auctions of minor mining contracts of construction material led to a deadlock in the supplies and black market amid a ‘grinding halt’ on the construction activities. The shortage led to illegal extraction and hoarding of construction material like sand, aggregate, gravel and stones resulting in halt on work on several prestigious developmental projects.

J&K opened up minor mineral extraction to non-locals at a time when states like Chhattisgarh reserved certain mining rights for their local residents. In 2019, Chhattisgarh issued a circular making domicile certificates mandatory for those applying for riverbed mining leases in the state.

Environmental experts in Kashmir had cautioned about the new trend saying the likely mechanization of the sand mining will not only wreak havoc with the livelihood of locals, but also the fish diversity.