No mining in Aravallis till Aug 7, NGT tells Haryana
The tribunal also directed the state government to ensure no mining or stone crushing-related activity was carried out in the area till August 7.
An NGT bench headed by chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava issued the notice on a plea filed by residents of Rajawas, a village located in the Aravallis in Mahendergarh district. The bench has asked the petitioners to explain within four weeks how 25 per cent of the protected forest land was auctioned to stone crushing units.
The petitioners had claimed that the Haryana Government had auctioned one-fourth of the 506.33 acres of the protected forestland for mining and stone crushing activities thereby endangering the fragile ecosystem of the area. The 506.33-acre patch of the land at Rajawas village was notified as a protected forest as a part of afforestation measures being undertaken in compensation for diversion of forestland for non-forest purposes in the Great Nicobar Island.
“The land has been given to stone crusher units and it has become hub of illegal mining. We repeatedly flagged the issue but got no response and thus moved the NGT. It is critical for us as it not only impacts the fragile ecosystem of the Aravallis but also affects our health, quality of life and farming. We are part of a protected forest and want our village be spared of illegal mining," said a petitioner, Satyanarayan, who is nambardar of Rajawas village. The petitioners also highlighted the impact of the activities on the depleting water table in addition to the flora and fauna of the area.
Environmentalists have also held the Union Government accountable saying that the land patch was part of a central inter-state compensatory afforestation project.
“Not just Haryana but even the Centre is responsible. The land is part of compensatory afforestation measures being undertaken in lieu of diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes in the Great Nicobar Island. On one hand, the country is losing dense evergreen forests in the Nicobar Island, on the other, the ‘Nicobar swap’ which is supposed to revive the Aravallis is being sabotaged,” said Neelam Ahluwalia, founder-member, People for Aravallis, a group of citizens working to conserve the Aravallis.
On June 20, 2023, the Haryana Government had issued a notification designating 506 acres of Aravallis in Rajawas as ‘protected’ under the Forest (Conservation) Act. However, on the same day, the Mining Department auctioned one-quarter of the land.
A company was chosen and awarded a 10-year lease on August 4 to quarry stones up to 1.4 metric tonnes per annum and deploy three stone crushers there. The department claimed while auctioning the site it had no idea it was designated as a protected forest.
Haryana Tribune