BHOPAL: Mining will not be allowed at Siddha Pahad “at any cost”, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Friday. Chouhan’s announcement came amid a growing controversy following reports of the resumption of mining on the sacred hillock, where Lord Ram is believed to have taken the pledge to eliminate demons. The CM’s tweets on the issue came after he chaired a review meeting of the mineral resources department.
“The purity of priceless cultural heritage Siddha Pahad will be kept intact. Mining won’t be allowed at any cost there. The Satna district administration has been directed in this regard,” Chouhan tweeted. The regional office of the MP State Pollution Control Board had recently issued information about holding a public hearing on Sept. 30 for getting environmental clearance to allow mining.
Siddha Pahad, located on the 84 Kosi Parikrama route of Chitrakoot, is believed to have been formed by the bones of seers who were killed by demons. The Congress had earlier attacked the Chouhan government over the issue. “After playing politics in the name of Lord Ram, the BJP government is now working in a well-planned manner to destroy the remains of the same God. The Congress won’t sit silent over the issue, but fight battles from roads to the Vidhan Sabha to prevent the destruction of the religiously-important hillock,” state Congress president and former MP CM Kamal Nath tweeted on Wednesday.
BJP MLA from Maihar in Satna district in MP, Narayan Tripathi, had also written to Chouhan. “I request you to stop the process of allowing mining on the hillock and also declare the entire religious circuit in Chitrakoot as a No Mining Zone. Otherwise, I will protest along with local residents on the day of the public hearing.”
Since 1978
Mining was allowed in the area, including the Siddh Pahad, in 1978, with the lease allotted to two firms for 30 years. The lease wasn’t renewed when the Uma Bharti-led BJP government attained power in MP in 2003