U’khand CM warns of separatist movement if projects stalled

Under pressure to stop riverbed mining in Ganga,CM asks Centre to 'respect' aspirations of state.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has warned the Central government that the state would take up separatist movements like northeast states if development projects were scuttled.

Talking to reporters here,Nishank said: Does the Central government want that? They won’t pay attention to our problems unless the state is swept up in separatist movements like northeastern states?

Referring to recent statements by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh,who strongly asked the state government to take action to stop illegal riverbed mining in Ganga,Nishank asked the government to respect the glory of the region.

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It has been a patriotic region. Maintain the glory of the region and respect the wishes of the youth. We (people) will have to migrate if we (the government) are not able to build roads. Ministers like Jairam Ramesh threatened Uttarakhand (government) that they would take action, he said.

Ramesh’s strongly letter to Nishank referred to the inaction by the state government in tackling illegal riverbed mining,particularly around haridwar.

It is unfortunate that in spite of my repeated requests,no effective action appears to have been taken by the state government to stop illegal riverbed sand mining. Various media reports appearing in recent days confirm the inaction on the part of the state government, Ramesh had written.

Recently,Jairam also blamed Uttarakhand Government for the death of Swami Nigamanand,who died after a four-month fast protesting against sand mining in Ganga river bed.

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