https://sputnikglobe.com/20220720/illegal-mining-still-rampant-in-india-despite-supreme-court-ban-expert-says-1097614157.html
Illegal Mining Still Rampant in India Despite Supreme Court Ban, Expert Says
Illegal Mining Still Rampant in India Despite Supreme Court Ban, Expert Says
Sputnik International
On Tuesday, a senior police officer was run over by the so-called "mining mafia" in the Pachgaon area of Haryana's Nuh district as he was trying to inspect a... 20.07.2022, Sputnik International
2022-07-20T13:29+0000
2022-07-20T13:29+0000
2022-07-20T13:29+0000
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For decades, the ecologically sensitive Aravalli Range in the Gurugram, Nuh, and Faridabad areas were quarried for stone and sand used for construction work before the Supreme Court of India put a blanket ban on mining activities in the area in 2009."The Aravalli hill range has to be protected at any cost," the Supreme Court stated in its observation.In 2018, a Supreme Court fact-finding committee noted that 31 of the 128 hills in the Aravalli region had disappeared in the past 50 years due to mining activities.She also noted that illegal mining picked up during the COVID-19 lockdown."For instance, in the Pandala hills of the Aravallis in Haryana's Gurugram district, our team has reported 30 to 40 feet of a hillock cleared over a span of eight months in 2021-22, which we have submitted to National Green Tribunal (NGT)," Ahluwalia said.In October 2021, local residents complained to the police about illegal mining activities in the protected areas. However, no action was taken at the time.The Haryana government on Tuesday said that as many as 68 vehicles involved in illegal mining had been seized and 23 official complaints registered in Nuh this financial year alone.During this period, a fine of INR 428,000 was recovered from illegal miners.Illegal Mining in IndiaThe federal Environment Ministry in 2018 informed that between 2013 and 2017, 416,000 incidents of illegal mining were reported.According to the Dnaindia.com, "In 2019 and 2020, a total of 193 people died during illegal sand and clay mining in India. Of these, 95 people died by being buried under the soil, while five journalists and social workers were murdered. Apart from this, 11 government officers were also put to death during this period.""Nobody realizes but our societies, institutes, everything is built on stone and sand. They're strategic material. It is considered inexpensive, which leads to over-exploitation," Tare said."So, putting a blanket ban on sand mining is nowhere going to help because in many places it is the backbone of local economies and a vital source of household income," he further explained.Want to know more? Check out our Koo & Telegram accounts! Koo: https://www.kooapp.com/profile/sputniknews Sputnik India: https://t.me/sputniknewsindiaSand is the second most used resource on the planet after water. Be it stones or sand, both play a crucial role in biodiversity. Their extraction from ecosystems such as rivers, deltas, coasts, and marine environments leads to increased erosion, salinization of aquifers, and reduced protection against storms, floods, and drought.
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Illegal Mining Still Rampant in India Despite Supreme Court Ban, Expert Says
Deexa Khanduri
Sputnik correspondent
On Tuesday, a senior police officer was run over by the so-called "mining mafia" in the Pachgaon area of Haryana's Nuh district as he was trying to inspect a truck following a tip about illegal mining in the area. The officer was declared dead by the time he reached hospital.
For decades, the ecologically sensitive Aravalli Range in the Gurugram, Nuh, and Faridabad areas were quarried for stone and sand used for construction work before the Supreme Court of India put a blanket ban on mining activities in the area in 2009.
"The Aravalli hill range has to be protected at any cost," the Supreme Court stated in its observation.
In 2018, a Supreme Court fact-finding committee noted that 31 of the 128 hills in the Aravalli region had disappeared in the past 50 years due to mining activities.
Neelam Ahluwalia, an environmentalist and founding member of the Aravalli Bachao (Save Aravalli) movement, has regularly visited the area for many years. In an interview with Sputnik, she shared that "despite the Supreme Court ban even in areas which are not easily accessible, we saw trails for tractors to carry truckloads of sand and all kinds of stone illegally."
She also noted that illegal mining picked up during the COVID-19 lockdown.
"For instance, in the Pandala hills of the Aravallis in Haryana's Gurugram district, our team has reported 30 to 40 feet of a hillock cleared over a span of eight months in 2021-22, which we have submitted to National Green Tribunal (NGT)," Ahluwalia said.
In October 2021, local residents complained to the police about illegal mining activities in the protected areas. However, no action was taken at the time.
The Haryana government on Tuesday said that as many as 68 vehicles involved in illegal mining had been seized and 23 official complaints registered in Nuh this financial year alone.
During this period, a fine of INR 428,000 was recovered from illegal miners.
"Between 2019 and March 2022, we seized 2,400 vehicles involved in mining activities in the Aravalli region," the state government further added.
The federal Environment Ministry in 2018 informed that between 2013 and 2017, 416,000 incidents of illegal mining were reported.
According to
the Dnaindia.com, "In 2019 and 2020, a total of 193 people died during illegal sand and clay mining in India. Of these, 95 people died by being buried under the soil, while five journalists and social workers were murdered. Apart from this, 11 government officers were also put to death during this period."
Speaking about the issue, Dr. Vinod Tare, a professor at the IIT on environmental matters, said, "The main problem today is poor governance of the resource and weak regulation of its extraction."
"Nobody realizes but our societies, institutes, everything is built on stone and sand. They're strategic material. It is considered inexpensive, which leads to over-exploitation," Tare said.
"So, putting a blanket ban on sand mining is nowhere going to help because in many places it is the backbone of local economies and a vital source of household income," he further explained.
Want to know more? Check out our Koo & Telegram accounts!
Sand is the second most used resource on the planet after water. Be it stones or sand, both play a crucial role in biodiversity. Their extraction from ecosystems such as rivers, deltas, coasts, and marine environments leads to increased erosion, salinization of aquifers, and reduced protection against storms, floods, and drought.
