Uttarakhand: Soft-soaping mining scandals and pimping private colleges

With most of Uttarakhand’s rivers already facing the scourge of sand mining, the latest scandal involves the indiscriminate mining of soapstone, with the state’s complicity.

Not only have mining officials actively facilitated environmental violations by soapstone miners, they have deliberately attempted to obstruct an investigation ordered by the Uttarakhand High Court into this latest instance of large-scale environmental damage.

Hardly surprising, given the state government’s openly wanton exploitation of natural resources. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has himself demanded that water mining be permitted round the year, even after it was banned by the ministry of environment. (Liquor and mining are the state’s two key sources of revenue.)

Soapstone is a rock rich in talc which is used as an ingredient in cosmetics, ceramics, paints and construction material. A huge demand for soapstone has led to Joshimath being repeated in Bageshwar. One hundred and sixty mines were operating with several excavators deployed at each mine in what is a highly disaster-prone area.

In September 2024, residents were alarmed as cracks appeared in over 200 houses across a dozen villages, and agricultural fields and several slopes subsided.

The villagers appealed to Uttarakhand High Court, which took suo motu cognisance of their plea and ordered the appointment of two court commissioners in December 2024 to visit the site and file an on-the-spot report of the damage. The commissioners reported that district officials refused to provide them details of the land, and even threatened villagers with dire consequences if they dared speak to the commissioners.

Worse, the commissioners were offered bribes (running into several lakhs) to gloss over their findings — forged documents which claimed that 43 villagers who did not actually reside in the village had given their ‘consent’ on stamp paper to the mining operation.

The commissioners refused to be coerced by such ‘financial incentives’ and prepared an honest appraisal of the ground situation, resulting in the high court ordering a complete ban on soapstone mining, besides commenting on the ‘complete lawlessness’ prevailing in the state.

Despite the court order, however, mining continued unabated, forcing the court to order the suspension of the district mining officer. The police were ordered to seize all machinery deployed in the area. Media reports that 134 excavators have been seized.

While mining has been going on since 1972, it’s the use of heavy machinery from 2010 that has precipitated the current crisis. It must be remembered that limestone quarrying in the hills of Dehradun had deforested the slopes completely. In the early 1970s, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered that all limestone quarrying be halted and the hills be regreened.

Government as broker for privatised colleges

Students of Haridwar’s Government Medical College (GMC) are on an indefinite strike against the state government’s decision to privatise the college and hand over its administration to the Sharda Educational Society, Noida, which presently runs Sharda University. GMC was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in December 2021 but admissions to the first batch began this academic session.

The college, spread over 800 acres of prime land, cost the government several hundred crores to set up. The Sharda Educational Society has allegedly paid Rs 500 crore to the state government to run it on a PPP (public-private partnership) revenue-sharing model.

The students are enraged: why did the authorities keep them in the dark regarding the privatisation of the college? This will result in increased fees as well as a loss of ‘status’ — government colleges are known to offer a wider range of subjects at lower fees, better faculty and, on graduation, better job opportunities.

GMC students point out that the main reason why so many aspirants make a beeline for such colleges is because they provide medical education at highly subsidised costs. Every year, lakhs of students appear for the NEET, a national-level entrance exam for admission into government medical colleges.

Considering that there are less than 400 government medical colleges in India, admission into one of them is a matter of prestige, especially since only a few thousand make it. Private medical colleges charge exorbitant fees and are willing to admit whoever is able to pay, irrespective of merit.

Another reason why students from poorer families prefer government colleges is because seats are reserved for marginalised sections, SC and ST students. Private colleges often make it difficult for these students to get in.

On 10 January, a group of GMC students hired the college bus, hoping to drive down to Dehradun to meet chief minister Dhami. The principal immediately suspended the driver and stymied their attempt. “We don’t want the tag of a private college. All the hard work that we put in to get admission here has no value now,” said one of the protesting students.

Dr Ashutosh Sayana, director of medical education, insists privatisation will not result in increased fees for the 100 students presently enrolled in the MBBS course, but his words carry no weight. Students believe he is only buying time.

Sayana has also assured them that the degrees and certificates given to them will bear the name of the original government institute. Unconvinced, the students are holding dharnas inside the campus, with the demand that the decision be rolled back. Their agitation could not have come at a worse time, because local body elections are scheduled in the state later this month. Opposition parties have joined the protest.

Suryakant Dhasmana, senior vice-president of the Congress, asked why 800 acres of prime land had been handed to a private institute on a platter. “The claim by the authorities that they cannot find trained faculty is false, especially after the earlier attempts of handing over government hospitals to private parties on a PPP basis in the state proved to be a complete failure,” he said. The question arises: why is the government announcing one medical college after another when it is not in a position to run any of them?

Cutting trees no big deal

The horrific death of Ankita Bhandari — an employee at a resort in Rishikesh, who was abducted, raped and murdered three years ago by Pulkit Arya, the son of powerful BJP-RSS leader Vinod Arya — continues to reverberate in the state. With the case as good as closed, the culprits have got away despite all evidence pointing to the involvement of Pulkit, who also owned the resort.

Now, another powerful BJP-RSS leader Prem Chand Aggarwal is constructing a tourist resort close to where Ankita was killed. His son Piyush Aggarwal has been booked for felling 26 protected trees in order to make way for a road leading up to the resort.

Villagers living in the area had protested to the forest department, forcing them to reluctantly file a case against him. Piyush is reported to have told forest officials that “cutting trees was no big deal” and that he was willing to pay for all damages incurred. The state government is presently conducting an investigation against him.