indore former minister and member of the wildlife board pushpraj singh has alleged that some bjp leaders including a few ministers of the state cabinet are involved in illegal mining there is a caucus within the state government which is preventing action against the mining mafia alleged pushparaj singh during his visit to indore on monday he said that there was no similarity or continuity in the statements issued by the chief minister director general of police dgp and the mining minister after the death of ips officer narendra kumar he alleged on the day of the killing of the ips officer chief minister reiterated that he will take action against the mining mafia while the next day mining minister said investigation is on to identify the illegal miners and within 24 hours the dgp said that there were mining mafia in the state the dgps claim that there is no mafia in madhya pradesh is a misleading statement and it speaks volumes about the way the things are moving in the state government he said referring to the harmful effects of illegal mining he said that illegal mining has emerged as one of the biggest threats to forests in the state panna forest is one of the biggest examples except in national park areas the state government has been allowing mining in all other places this has caused a huge damage to wildlife resulting in decrease in number of tigers in state national tiger reserve forest needs buffer zones forest corridors and forest link for safe movement of tigers said singh adding that tigers outside the reserve forests are need to be protected tigers can not be saved by just protecting national parks we need a good forest and pray base for their survival and increase in population illegal mining is not only affecting wildlife but it is also affecting the agricultural productivity of state farmers and lives of tribal per square kilometer of agricultural land is on the decline in the state while areas for cattle grazing and livelihood of tribals are disappearing said singh adding that illegal mining is depriving people of their livelihood in far flung areas