Defunct Bathinda power plant has no sand, says admn on illegal mining claim

Bathinda A day after former Bathinda Akali MLA Sarup Chand Singla alleged, in a video, that widespread sand mining was on in the garb of removal of ash at the defunct Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), the authorities have said that the site has no sand quarry. Singla had alleged that Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal and his brother-in-law Jaijeet Johal were behind the illegality. Singla had even alleged an attempt on his life, while he was shooting the purported video.

The matter drew widespread attention after Congress MLA from Gidderbaha Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu retweeted videos of the Akali leader levelling direct charges on the state’s ruling political dispensation.