SC bans mining in Haryana Aravallis but in Rajasthan, forest is ‘graveyard’

Across the Aravalli hills spanning Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, large chunks have been gouged out due to indiscrimate mining. For a glimpse of how bad it can get, visit the 300-sq-km sprawl of green of the Jamua Ramgarh Sanctuary, barely half an hour by car from Jaipur.

Underneath the forest lies one of the world’s richest deposits of marble and soapstone—and stark evidence of contempt of the highest court of the land. So much so that an expert committee set up by the Supreme Court, the Central Empowered Committee, reported: ‘‘Instead of wildlife sanctuary it is a mining sanctuary and would be more appropriate to name it Jamua Ramgarh Wild Life Graveyard.’’

For, in this forest which serves as catchment area for a lake that feeds Jaipur’s water supply, mine after mine has been dug, burying every rule in the book. Not only by fly-by-night mine operators but also by governments at the state and the Centre.

Virtually overnight last summer, the SC committee shut down 69 mines here—all had permits violating the apex court’s ban. And provisions of the Forest Conservation Act as well as the Wild Life (Protection) Act over the last 20 years.

Many mineowners, forced to leave in 2000, left behind cranes, kilometres of marble boulders, deep pits, mountains of debris inside the forest.

The court had ruled that in exceptional cases, mining can be allowed provided the land is ‘‘reclaimed’’ via compulsory afforestation. Nothing of this sort was done by any mine.

Clearly, the officers at the state and the Centre colluded in granting the permits, the expert committee said in its report submitted to the Supreme Court last week. And therefore called for ‘‘disciplinary action.’’

The committee has documented violations in detail, along with signatures of officers who cleared the mining permits. Some of the more startling examples:

Shruti Marbles, a four-hectare marble mine

• Mining lease was sanctioned in 1981 by local authorities in violation of the Forest Conservation Act.

• For 12 years, illegal mining continued. When it was finally closed in 2000, the closure order were set aside by a single-judge bench of the Rajasthan High Court, later stayed by a Division Bench.

• Additional Chief Conservator of Forests pointed out that the actual area being used by the mine was 26.5 hectares, over 10 times the sanctioned area. Still, no action was taken.

• Even the Ministry of Environment and Forests approved the mining ‘‘without waiting for a formal proposal from the state government for reconsideration of the rejected proposal.’’

Cluster of 37 mines covering 402 hectares

• Ministry of Environment and Forests issued permits despite these mines being inside a sanctuary.

• In 1998, permits extended for two years with the remark that the mines would be shut down. When the local authorities objected, the state government over-ruled it saying that clarification was being sought from the Centre. The clarification was never sought.

• Some mines continued working until the CEC stepped in to shut them down.

Aandhi Marbles, marble

• Centre gave permit for nine months despite the mine being in the sanctuary, a ‘‘wilful violation’’ of the Supreme Court’s orders. No compensation was paid for afforestation.

Golcha Mines, one of the biggest, 763 hectares.

• When the Centre cancelled the lease, mining was allowed to continue in ‘‘non-forest’’ area on the plea that the ‘‘renewal application’’ was still pending.

• No reclamation of foret areas was done.

• The lease over the forest area has not been cancelled even now.

Local authorities have a ready answer: it’s unclear where the sanctuary begins and where it ends. ‘‘The problem occurred because the demarcation of the sanctuary was not clear and many boundary pillars had got lost. So, it was difficult to pinpoint where the miners transgressed,’’ said R G Soni, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.

Since no reclamation has been done, the CEC has asked the state government to file a reclamation plan—the money to come from these mines. ‘‘A plan of Rs 2.10 crore was finalised by the state government just covering the very basics now. Since the mines were closed suddenly, the normal procedure of reclamation was not carried out,’’ said a senior official from the state mines department.