Sale of sand in flood-hit areas: Mining dept, village panchayat to have up to 85% share

Even as the Haryana government has decided to conduct mining operations and take out sand and silt minerals accumulated in the fields due to the floods, farmers will get only 15 to 20% share of earnings from the mined sands in their fields.

In this regard the office of the director, Haryana mines and geology department, told all the deputy commissioners for the formation of teams to conduct survey of affected areas to measure the thickness of the sand and silt deposited in the fields.

As per the notification, the mining operations will be carried out as per the depth of sand and silt as up to the thickness of 1 inch of sand the owner of the land will get compensation for the crop loss as per the Haryana government norms and damage assessment by the revenue department.

For the sand above 1 to 3 inches, farmers will get no compensation for crop loss by the revenue department, but they will get full share from the sale of sand in terms of assistance up to 1 hectare to cover their losses.

For sand and silt from 3 inches to 2 feet, farmers will get no compensation for crop loss but the sale proceeds of sand equivalent 2 feet of thickness for maximum 1 hectare will be fully given as assistance to the farmers. But the sale proceeds for reminding quantity, the farmer will get 20% share and remaining 80% will equally be distributed between the mining department and the village panchayat concerned.

Similarly, for the sand and silt above 2 feet no compensation for crop damage will be given to the farmers but the sale proceeds of sand for maximum one hectare will be given to the farmer and the sale proceeds for remaining land 15 % share will be given to the landowner and 42.5 % share each to the mining department and gram panchayat concerned.

The decision has evoked a sharp response from the farmer unions, and they have threatened to oppose this decision. “This order reveals the anti-farmer mindset of this government as the farmers were reeling under crises and the government wants to earn money from their damaged fields,” said Bhartiya Kisan Union president Ratan Mann.

He said that the farmers be allowed to sell the sand by themselves so that they could empty their fields before the sowing of the next crop. He said that a farmers’ panchayat will be called in Karnal on September 1 to decide the next course of action. BKU (Charuni) spokesperson Rakesh Bains said, “We will not accept this at any cost as the government is now rubbing salts on the wounds of the farmers by shifting its mining operations from rivers to fields”.

He said that the BKU will oppose it and will not allow the officials to carry the assessment or mining operations in their fields.

On the other hand, a senior official from the Haryana mining and geology department said that several conditions in this notification are not technically feasible as there is no machine available to lift the sand up to the depth of 3 inches.

Narhari Singh Banger, director, mines and geology department, Haryana, said that deputy commissioners have been directed to form a committee of officers to conduct the survey of the affected areas and provide the report to the department for further operations as per the directions of the government.