Jaipur:
After an NDTV report, the Rajasthan Chief Minister orders a crackdown on illegal mining. Senior officials head to Alwar to shut down illegal mines.
At Chaupanki, an industrial town in the Aravalli range, near Jaipur, men and machines chisel for the quartz stone which is in high demand for construction and road building. Dozens of mines here are illegally run.
Eight years ago, the Supreme court had banned mining in the fragile Aravalli. However, with each truckload of stone selling for Rs 5,000, the profits lure many.
We decided to investigate the issue and masked as a builder, approached a mine operator named Javed. He promised delivery of the stone at our chosen destination. His trucks had no problem at the check post.
"Look if you don't give commission, then they will close it down. Especially if they have an order. We give the police about 10 to 20 thousand every month, so they don't say anything," says Javed.
Without permit, these men make fuses for explosives to blast rocks.
The Rajasthan government has found a way to dodge the Supreme Court ban order, by simply redefining the Aravalli range. A Mines' officer of the Government of Rajasthan says, "A committee was set up to determine what is the Aravalli. In that it was decided that a height of 100 meters between the base and the top contours is the definition of a mountain."
This led to more mining leases being handed out to quarry hills less than 100 meters high. Alarmed by this, the Supreme Court ordered the centre to probe illegal mining in 2008.
The report by the Centre clearly states that the Rajasthan government changed or used the definition of forests and mountains that allowed it to continue mining operations in the state and where the mining was legal, very little regard was paid to environmental concerns.
However, despite several warning to the state, little action has been taken.
Ramesh Arya of the Bandhua Mukti Morcha says, "There is very little regard for any laws, no safety for labourers, explosives being made and assembled right there. It is not possible that this can continue without the connivance of the state officials ."
The Aravallis are said to be Delhi's last line of defence against the march of the Rajasthan desert. Such a move could ensure the victory of the desert.