A three-member central team sent to Punjab to assess the extent of illegal mining in the state has reportedly submitted its report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It has reportedly said the state government had failed to check illegal mining. The team comprising Surinder Kumar, Regional Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Sonu Singh, Deputy Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Delhi, and GC Meena, Deputy director, Indian Bureau of Mines, Dehradun, had yesterday visited several mining sites and quarries in Mohali, Ropar and Nawanshahr districts. The team was to visit Pathankot today to assess the situation there but could not do so because of inclement weather. The team left for Delhi today. Sources in the Ministry of Environment and Forests said the team had found huge pits being dug in the middle of the Sutlej river-bed and JCBs and tippers deployed along the river-bed. This gave credence to allegations of illegal mining. The team reportedly assessed the mining of minor minerals (sand and aggregate) being carried out in Punjab and whether the quarries had obtained the environmental clearance from the authorities concerned. It also checked if any mining activity was being carried on in the reserve forest area. The team made inquiries regarding the prices at which the mining sites were auctioned and the prices at which sand and aggregate was wing sold in retail. Meanwhile, stone crushers in Pathankot remained closed for the second day in a row today in anticipation of the central team's visit there. Officially, the stone crushers maintained that they had closed operations as they were unable to get raw material from the neighbouring state of Jammu and Kashmir.