Nuh suffers as illegal mining threatens biodiversity in Aravalli hills

Nuh: The Aravallis hill range in north-western India, especially going through the Mewat region, continues to face a severe threat to its biodiversity due to illegal mining and real estate activities, despite repeated orders from the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal.

These unlawful practices, supported by certain political parties and the mining and land mafia, have persisted for years with a section of the local community benefitting from them.

Last year in Mewat, a Haryana police officer of DSP rank was allegedly killed while investigating illegal stone mining. His killing has focused attention to the lack of enforcement of the law and court orders by political parties and administrative officials. As a result, illegal mining in Nuh continues to thrive.

Recently, the police have taken action by putting 29 notorious villages in Nuh under constant drone surveillance to curb illegal mining. Most of these villages are situated at the foothills of the Aravallis bordering Rajasthan.

The villages include Pachagon where Tauru DSP Surender Singh Bishnoi was murdered last year on July 19 while trying to intercept trucks carrying stones mined illegally. Other villages include Kharak Jalalpur, Chahalka, Chajjupur, Silkho Noorpur, Pachgaon, Salaka, Malaka.

The illegal activity is widespread in these villages, with many households directly involved in mining or transporting illegally mined minerals.

“The Nuh police have been conducting awareness campaigns for over a year to educate villagers about illegal activities. After outsourcing the surveillance operations, they now use their own drones and handlers to closely monitor the area, including the movement of vehicles carrying illegally mined stones,” said a senior police official.

Notably, penalties amounting to Rs 1.39 crore have been imposed for illegal mining, and 71 vehicles have been seized in the district until July 14 this year, as reported by the mining department.

One of the challenges in controlling illegal mining in the region is the existence of leased mines in the neighboring state of Rajasthan, allowing contractors to exploit additional areas.

To address this, for the first time, Haryana plans to erect pillars on its border with Rajasthan in the south, demarcating the state's area from its neighbour.

The officials claimed that this step aims to define the porous border that some use to illegally quarry stones in the Aravalli hills.

While mining is banned in south Haryana, the rule doesn't extend to Rajasthan, creating a jurisdictional ambiguity that the mining mafia often takes advantage of. By installing pillars, the mining department intends to stop people from trespassing into the Aravalli forest areas from Rajasthan.

Nuh is surrounded by Gurugram to the north, Palwal to the east, and Rajasthan's Alwar to the south and west. The region's terrain comprises undulating rocky hills with minimal vegetation.