Cong walks out from HP Assembly over illegal mining

The opposition Congress staged a walkout from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on the fourth day of the ongoing Winter Session on Thursday over "inaction" against alleged illegal sand mining in the state.

Congress legislators led by Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri staged a walkout from the state Assembly during question hour at Tapovan here.

The Congress MLAs were not satisfied with the reply of Industries Minister Bikram Singh to Agnihotri's question regarding alleged illegal sand mining in Swan river of Una district.

Agnihotri asked "Is there any illegal sand mining being done by JCB machines in Swan river? If so, what action is being taken to stop the illegal mining? Is it true that around 1,000 sand loaded tippers are allowed to go illegally from Swan river area daily and Rs 8,000 are illegally taken from each of the tippers?"

The industries minister replied in the negative to Agnihotri's questions.

At this, the opposition legislators walked out from the Assembly raising slogans against the illegal sand mining in the state.