Aravali mining threat in Haryana

After the protest by environmental and Gurugram residents by the Haryana Legislative Assembly, about two years after the passage of the Haryana Land Conservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, the state government’s recent move to seek permission from the Supreme Court to start mining in Aravali in Gurugram Kadam, Faridabad and Noonh are seen as one of the oldest mountain ranges with adverse environmental impact in the region.

Strong opposition to the legalization of mining in Aravalli in the National Capital Region, environmentalists argue that it could cause huge damage to the environment, especially when the region is already grappling with poor air quality and rapidly depleting groundwater levels.

Worst air quality

Faridabad has the worst air quality in Haryana and is among the most polluted cities in the world. Gurugram, too, topped the list of world’s most polluted cities in 2018. It is also argued that Gurugram and Faridabad have higher population densities, but lower per capita forest cover.

“With the ban on mining in Gurugram and Faridabad, there has been a significant improvement in forest cover. The wildlife survey reveals that Gurugram and Faridabad hills serve as an important wildlife habitat and corridor especially for leopards. There is also movement to and from the Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. Resuming mining here would be disastrous for wildlife, air quality and the health of residents.

He said that mining should be restricted to individual hills in areas with minimal impact on wildlife corridors and air quality. “Mining should not be done in NCR districts adjoining Delhi, which are important wildlife habitats and corridors, poor air quality and high population,” the analyst said. He said mining in Haryana was already booming.

According to the Economic Survey of 2020-21, the collection from mining till January 20-21 is Economic 770.00 crores, the highest since 2005-06.

Allocated mines

In addition, 58 mines out of a total of 119 in the state have already been allocated. For the current financial year, as of September 2020, there have been more than 26,000 cases of illegal mining, including 1,358.

As per the orders of the Supreme Court, mining has been banned in Gurugram and adjoining districts for more than a decade.

Former Forest Conservator RP Balwan said that when permission was given earlier, the mining was done randomly without adhering to the norms that would cause great harm to the environment and wildlife. “Mining should not be allowed in dense forest areas like Mangar. Mr. Balwan said that the need for construction material can also be met by mining on different hills, which can cause minimal damage to the environment.

Ask for residents

In an email campaign to the Chief Justice of India, residents demand that no mining and real estate should be allowed in Aravalli. Instead, the government should come up with a three-year road map to take legal basic forest cover in the state to 20%, as per the Haryana Forest Department’s policy target and an all-India average.

Other demands include demolition of illegal construction in Aravalli, planting saplings, treating 50,000 acres of Aravalli land as forest and maintaining all Aravalli in South Haryana as a natural conservation area.

Residents in the email argued that the destruction of the Aravalli would worsen the NCR air pollution situation and the mountain range is the only natural barrier against the desert. Aravalli with its natural cracks and fissures has the capacity to accommodate two million liters of water per hectare per year. In addition, the mountain range is a biodiversity hotspot with 400-odd species of trees, shrubs and herbs; 200-odd native and migratory bird species; 100-odd butterfly species; 20-odd reptile species and 20-odd mammal species, including leopards, the email says.

Gurugram’s mining officer Anil Kumar said that mining in this area will not only help in meeting the demand for construction material but will also generate employment. He argued that mining was also allowed in Aravali in the neighboring state of Rajasthan. “Mining will be done in the areas with the least harm to the environment. A survey in this regard has also been done to identify potential areas for mining. Though Gurugram has few areas available for mining, the neighboring state of Nuh has a huge scope for mining.