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A report of a joint committee, formed on orders of the National Green Tribunal to ascertain the extent of illegal mining at 16 locations in Aravalli region in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Nuh districts of Haryana, has found instances of mining activity at several locations in the region despite prohibitory orders. It has also found trenches at some sites due to excavation.
“…as per the list provided by the applicant, there are instances of mining activity despite prohibitory orders against any mining-related activity as directed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The committee has also observed that at some sites, trenches were formed due to excavating the materials and at some sites shaving of bushes and plantation was also noticed,” said the status report of site inspections of 16 locations by the joint committee.
The report, placed before the tribunal earlier this week, added that the magnitude of environmental loss for such degradation could not be assessed due to the non-existence of standard formula or practice.
In an order on May 23, 2022, the NGT, after hearing a petition of citizen’s collective Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, formed a joint committee and directed the committee to undertake site visits for ascertaining “whether any illegal mining has been done in the area; whether such mining has been done before or after prohibition orders; what is the quantum of such mining in the magnitude of the loss cost to the environment as well as the state exchequer”. The NGT had directed the committee to submit a report in three months.
According to the report of the committee, illegal mining was found at two locations in Pandala Hills near Gairatpur Bas village; in Aravalli area near Tikli village; near Tauru police station in Tauru Block; near Palla village in Nuh block and near Baghola village in Ferozepur Jhirka block.
The report said that in Aravallis near Jalalpur Sohna village, signs of excavation with machinery and tractor marks were noticed. Near Kotla Khandewla village near Manesar police lines complex, 1,980 metric tonnes (MT) of ordinary clay was extracted without requisite permission (short-term permit) from the Mining Department. The report said that in Tauru block, near Bissar Akhbarpur, 15,750 MT of ordinary clay had been extracted without STP from the Mining Department. In Ferozerpur Jhirka block near Hirwari Bamatheri village, 3,240 MT of stone had been illegally mined.
Citing field visits from March 2021 to March 2022, Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, in its application before the NGT, had submitted that illegal sand and stone mining was taking place at 16 locations of the Aravalli range in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Nuh districts in violation of several judicial orders.
An eight-member committee, chaired by the chief conservator Forests, Forest Department, Haryana, and including an official from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, mining officers and a senior police officer among others, was constituted on July 7. The committee undertook field visits at all 16 locations to assess the extent of illegal mining and consequent environmental degradation. The report referenced drone images of the sites, displaying the extent of excavation, and satellite images of sites at different points in time.
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