CHANDIGARH: A citizens' report has been submitted to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, demanding the declaration of 'NO-GO' areas for mining and stone crushing in the Aravallis. It also calls for a law that classifies the destruction of this ancient mountain range as an ecological crime in Haryana.
The report, titled ‘State of the Haryana Aravallis: Citizens’ Report – Part 1’, was submitted by the environmental collective 'People for Aravallis'. It outlines the status of the Aravalli range across seven Haryana districts, Nuh, Faridabad, Gurugram, Rewari, Mahendergarh, Charkhi Dadri and Bhiwani.
The report highlights that due to rampant mining (both licensed and illegal), deforestation, encroachments, and diversion of Aravalli land for various projects, the two-billion-year-old range is on the brink of extinction.
Neelam Ahluwalia, Founder Member of People for Aravallis, said, “This report is the first in the series of reports that our group is sharing with our elected representatives and bureaucracy, on the dismal health of our ‘lifeline’ which is vital for clean air and water security."
"In the backdrop of the Supreme Court this week expressing serious concern over continuing illegal mining across the 670-kilometre Aravalli range and giving the Centre-led Committee a final two-month deadline to arrive at a ‘uniform definition of the ecologically crucial mountain range’, this report highlights the extremely worrying status of the Aravalli hills and forests in Haryana,” she said.
She added that the destruction has resulted from a lack of legal safeguards and ground-level protection, with significant consequences for the environment and public health in the region.
Dr R.P. Balwan, Retired Conservator of Forests, South Circle Haryana, stated, “In the report we have showcased in detail how licensed mining and stone crushing units across the Haryana Aravallis have been flouting rules and regulations, and how illegal mining continues brazenly in most districts in various ways."
"It also states how out of the seven districts where the Aravallis are present in Haryana, in two districts, licensed mining operations have wiped out most of the two-billion-year-old range. Only a few small hillocks stand in the name of the ‘mighty Aravallis’ in Bhiwani district!” he said.
He further noted, “The policy decision to allow mining in all the Aravalli hills in Charkhi Dadri district in 2015, other than one hill range which comes under the Aravalli plantation project, has over the last decade resulted in the near annihilation of one of the oldest geological features in the world in this district.”
Citing a specific case, Dr Balwan added, “In Rajawas village in Mahendergarh district, where the Aravalli area was designated as ‘Protected Forest’ under the ‘Nicobar Swap’, in a serious case of illegality, 24 per cent of this ‘PF’ land was auctioned for mining in 2023."
"This area is extremely rich in biodiversity with native tree species like Khair, Dhok, Rohida, Dhoodi, Khejri, Hingot, Kair, and some endangered tree species like Guggul, Jaal and Salar. It is also a habitat for many endangered and vulnerable wildlife species such as the rare Rusty Spotted Cat, Leopard, Striped Hyena, Indian Small Civet, Bengal Monitor Lizard, Owl, and Eagle,” he said.
The report identifies over 60 documented locations and hotspots of illegal mining across the Mahendergarh, Nuh and Gurugram Aravallis, stressing the urgent need for surveillance, protection, and ecological restoration.
“India’s National Capital Region and Haryana state will soon become a desert and water-starved at the current rate of destruction of the Aravalli hills, which serve as the only shield preventing the expansion of the Thar desert into Haryana and Delhi-NCR,” warned Balwan.
Dr Rajendra Singh, renowned water conservationist from Rajasthan, added, “All the demands made in this report, especially the creation of ‘NO-GO’ areas for mining and stone crushing, are a must to be implemented to save what is left of the Aravalli hills and centuries-old forests across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi."
"Our elected leaders in the Aravalli states and at the Centre should also consider introducing a law that makes ‘destruction of Aravallis an ecological crime punishable in the strictest way possible’ so that people indulging in illegal activities know that they will be severely punished,” he added.
“This law should also be applicable to government officials failing to protect the Aravalli range – crucial for human, cattle and wildlife health; agricultural productivity; climate modulation, as North West India’s only barrier against desertification, our pollution sink and critical water recharge zone,” Singh said.