Shimla (S Gopal Puri)
After the mining mafia, those indulging in the illegal felling of trees appear in his home district Una to be on the target of Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri.
At a recent public function in Una, Agnihotri didn’t mince words when he, from the stage, asked the district administration to crack down on the forest mafia to ensure the greens were saved. The statement came days after the Deputy Chief Minister had, in a similar manner, asked the authorities to go after the mining mafia who had been plundering the hill state’s natural wealth.
Asks from where wood-laden vehicles coming
“I want to make it clear to the authorities that the vehicles carrying the wood of banyan (bargad) and sacred fig (peepal) trees should be impounded and its occupants arrested. This is a matter of the (Una) district’s prestige. When no new banyan or sacred fig are being planted and mango orchards have already dried up, from where are so many wood-laden vehicles reaching the Himachal-Punjab border every morning?” he said.
In the same beath, Mukesh Agnihotri said he wasn’t bothered how the opposition BJP took his statements or whether they said ‘Mukesh flagged illegal mining, ‘chitta’ sale or illegal felling’, he was more concerned about stopping these illegal activities in his home district.
“The people have given mandate to the Congress and it’s the government’s duty to live up to their expectations. The administration should look active and mustn’t be found napping. So, pull up your socks and get cracking on the mafia,” said the Deputy Chief Minister, a three-term MLA from Haroli.
Was it a hint at someone from own party?
Though Agnihotri didn’t name any forest mafia operator, an analyst said the Deputy Chief Minister’s statement could be a warning to the affluent or even politicians, they be from the ruling regime or the opposition.
There are five Assembly constituencies in Una district and four of these — Haroli, Chintpurni, Gagret and Kutlehar — are represented in the Himachal Assembly by Congress MLAs. Sudarshan Singh Babloo is the MLA from Chintpurni, Rakesh Kalia from Gagret and Vivek Sharma from Kutlehar. The Una seat was won by prominent Congress leader Satpal Raizada in 2017, but he lost to BJP’s Satpal Singh Satti in 2022.
During another function recently, the Deputy Chief Minister had asked officials to stop the movement of tippers (trucks used to carry mined material) in Una district from 5 pm to 9 pm. “Innumerable tippers are operating in mining projects and people, especially children, are unable to walk on the roads due to dust and other reasons,” he had said.
