Earlier, only Odisha was known for mining across the country, but now Punjab will also register its name by providing potash reserves. Potash reserves have been found underground in an area of 18 km of five villages in three blocks of Fazilka and Sri Muktsar Sahib, due to which Punjab will soon become a new center of mining.
This was said by Punjab’s Mining Minister Barinder Goyal recently. According to Minister Goyal, the Indian government imports about 5 million tonnes of potash from different countries, which is used in fertilizers, feed and other things. Underground reserves of potash have been found in Kabarwala block of Sri Muktsar Sahib, Sherwala and Ramsara blocks of Fazilka district and Shergarh and Dalmir Khera blocks. These potash reserves are present 450 meters or 1500 feet below ground level, the survey of which has almost been completed. The Punjab government has approved the auction of the Kabarwala site on July 11, 2024. Now only the auction process is left, which will be completed soon with the support of the central government. He said that companies will be given licenses to separate potash and other substances that are released.
With this statement of the minister, the fear of their lands being lost has started spreading among the residents of the areas. Potash is a natural mineral, which is used to make heavy and clayey lands fertile. India imports 5 million tons of potash from outside every year. Potassium reserves of 20 thousand million tons have been discovered in Bikaner and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan many years ago. Apart from this, some deposits of potassium are also found in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. By the way, mining of potassium was started in Rajasthan last year by giving contracts, which is considered the first project of mining of potash in the country.
Of course, the government is claiming that potash will be mined with the ‘drilling system’ and this will not cause any damage to the lands, but it cannot be that fertile lands will not be damaged. There are doubts in the minds of the people of the area regarding this, which cannot be dismissed at all. Potash is a valuable natural resource and it is a fact that there is no mining other than sand mining in the state. Sand is mined from riverbeds, but it has been observed that often due to unauthorized and unnecessary mining, the surrounding cultivable lands and water resources are severely damaged. A lot of land has already come under Bharatmala and other highways. Apart from this, there is an unchecked expansion of residential colonies around cities, due to which there may be a crisis of cultivable land to meet the food needs of the people in the coming years. In view of this, Punjab needs to formulate a comprehensive policy to conserve and develop its cultivable lands and water resources and also focus on its human resources.
In view of the potential mining of potash in the area, Punjab’s Mining Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal reached the spot and assured the people that their lands will not be acquired, but the people do not trust the verbal assurance of the minister and have demanded that the Punjab government should give a written assurance. Farmers are facing new problems every day. Farmers’ organizations have been camping on the Shambhu and Khanauri borders for a year now. The central government is not giving legal guarantee of MSP on 23 crops of farmers. Now the government has removed the snake with potash from above. In view of this, Punjab needs to formulate a comprehensive policy to conserve and develop its agricultural lands and water resources and also to pay attention to its human resources.
