NDTV's investigations showed how unhindered and unchecked illegal mining was posing a threat to the rare wildlife in the GIR forests, home to the rare Asiatic lion.
A day after NDTV exposed thriving illegal mining activity in and around the protected Gir wildlife sanctuary, the district administration of Gir Somnath raided illegal mining units and sealed three major quarries in the area.
Official sources said that a team of the Geology and Mining department rushed to the areas where mining was caught on camera, and sealed the quarries. The owners of these quarries and the workers there though managed to get away before the officials arrived. The department has lodged a police complaint.
NDTV's investigations showed how unhindered and unchecked illegal mining was posing a threat to the rare wildlife in the GIR forests, home to the rare Asiatic lion.
Of the three quarries which have been sealed, mining was caught on camera in two. In Surva village, deep inside the forest, barely two km from the protected wildlife sanctuary, mining activity had been going on. Mining is not allowed within 10 km of the reserve, since it can upset the fragile ecology of the area.
Deeper inside, at Aankalwada village, there were tell-tale signs of mining. The mines have now been sealed by the administration. But activists are still concerned at the increase in commercial activity and illegal mining in the area.
"We have witnessed the Asiatic lions moving out of the protected sanctuary area towards the villages because of such activities...these illegal activities would impact the wildlife here majorly," said activist Razzak Baloch.
They are worried the crackdown may not have ended mining in the area but only halted it for the time being.