Shimla, Dec 4 (PTI) Former industries minister Bikram Thakur on Wednesday hit out at the present state government over the alleged rise in cases of illegal mining in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh and demanded that the government take stern action against illegal mining and the mining mafia.

Singh, in a press statement, asked, "If Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri himself is appealing from the stage to stop illegal mining, then who is responsible for controlling it in the state?"

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He said that it is a very serious situation that there are individuals or gangs in the district who are more powerful than the government and are openly engaging in illegal mining.

"When the deputy CM himself admits his inability to stop it, it clearly shows that the state government has failed completely on this issue" he added.

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He said, "The government should have taken strict action against these mafias and set an example. But when senior leaders of the government are publicly appealing, it exposes their incompetence. Is this the 'vyavastha parivartan' that the Congress promised during the elections?"

He further said that local residents have been raising their voices on this issue for a long time, but the government is yet to take any concrete steps.

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