A sharp increase in demand for construction materials and complete ban on illegal mining in Haryana is having an adverse impact on neighbouring Rajasthan. Miners in Haryana are procuring illegally mined stones from adjoining Rajasthan even as illegal mining continues unabated at the eco-sensitive Aravalli Hills in the two States.
The SC had in 2002 imposed a complete ban on illegal mining in Haryana and renewed it again in 2009. Incidentally, the miners taking the Rajasthan route continues despite the SC’s ban in 2012 on mining in Udhanwas village of Alwar district.
In a 44-page report submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) — an expert panel assisting the apex court on environment matters — has also outlined how in Haryana’s Mewat district, illegal miners had a field day as police and administration were busy with Parliamentary election duty since early this year.
The CEC in its report said, “Areas in and around village Udhanwas in Tehsil Tijara in Alwar have been devastated by the massive illegal mining. In spite of the directions passed by the court from time to time the illegal mining of construction material has not been effectively controlled by the States of Haryana and Rajasthan.”
The Committee recommended to the court that it was high time to impose “exemplary punitive action” against those miners found to have exceeded their permissible mining capacity. In case of mining leases operating without requisite forest and environment approvals, the Committee suggested immediate closure.
Till mining operations remain suspended, CEC told the court that no new stone crushing unit should be established or operated in Mewat and Alwar. As vehicles found to carry illegal mined material across State borders with ease, strict vigil must be maintained by the two States to ensure receipts are genuine and crushers who receive the material have valid permits, report said.
With mining on Aravalli hills, situated in Haryana, banned by the Supreme Court as early as on October 29, 2002 (with the exception being for Faridabad), the Committee discovered that since the beginning of this year, illegal mining witnessed a “sharp increase” in many villages of Mewat. “This spurt in illegal mining has taken place apparently taking advantage of the pre-occupation of police and administration with the Parliamentary elections,” the Committee said, after having conducted a site visit of the area on July 8.
This not only was a violation of court order, what was worrying was the extent of damage caused to the Aravallis. It noted that “large scale” illegal mining in Dhulawat and Sahsola villages and “significant” illegal mining taking place in villages Bhopawali, Kalanjar and Bazidpur. Sporadic mining on “small scale” was noticed in villages of Kherli Kalan, Khanpur Ghata, Silkho and Jhimrawat.
This partly proved the allegations made by a PIl filed by Bandhua Mukti Morcha, an NGO working in the interest of labourers employed in the mining zone. The PIl had submitted a list of 28 villages in Haryana alone where illegal mining was rampant. The apex court had sought a report from CEC on this petition even as it sought explanation from the Haryana Government to explain violation of its ban order. The case is expected to be heard by the Forest Bench in August.