Jaipur: As part of his crusade against mining irregularities and the sand mafia, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) supremo Hanuman Beniwal started a march Tuesday from the Riyan Badi subdivision of Nagaur district to Jaipur. The day-long march featured multiple public meetings along the way. At the time of writing this report, Beniwal and his supporters were waiting at the Ajmer-Jaipur district border for talks with the local administration.Addressing a gathering in Riyan Badi earlier, Beniwal said functionaries of the BJP and Congress, in collusion with bureaucrats and police officers, were running the illegal sand mining business in Riyan subdivision. He accused the mafia of destroying entire river ecosystems across the region in the process, and alleged that transportation of illegally excavated sand was being carried out by night under the patronage of senior police and civic administration officials.Beniwal said that due to the govt’s continuing indifference on the matter, sand prices had hit the roof, making it difficult for ordinary people to repair their homes, let alone build new ones. He alleged that the trade was being driven by institutionalised corruption, adding that the RLP would launch a state-wide agitation over the issue. Beniwal also alleged serious irregularities in the survey process for land acquisition under the Merta to Pushkar and Merta to Ras railway line projects, which he blamed for unfair compensation to affected landowners. Securing adequate compensation for farmers similarly impacted by high-tension electricity lines was another issue he was focusing on, Beniwal added.
