Haryana, Raj teams inspect blasted hill, but no FIR filed
A day after the mining mafia brought down an entire Aravalli hillock on the Haryana-Rajasthan border in Rava village of Nuh, teams from the two states visited the site on Saturday, but no FIR was registered.
While the Rajasthan team issued show-cause notices to a few licensed miners in their territory in Nangal, the Haryana counterparts, led by the Ferozepur Jhirka SDM and the SHO, “gathered information for further action”. None of the states, however, proceeded with basic procedure of filing an FIR, said a green activist. Speaking to The Tribune, a senior official of the Nuh police said, “We are awaiting a complaint from the local administration to file an FIR. The villagers are too scared to testify against the mining mafia. An administration team along with our SHO visited the spot, but we are yet to get any communication on further action.”
An official spokesperson of the Nuh administration said an FIR would be registered soon.
“Those who have blasted the hill will not be spared. Following directions from the Deputy Commissioner, our team visited the site and gathered information from the villagers,” he said.The Tribune had reported in these columns a day ago how the mining mafia, on the evening of December 19, blasted the hillock, which crumbled the following morning. The villagers shot videos of the collapsing hill and alerted the authorities. While the police maintained the hill fell within Haryana’s jurisdiction, the mining officials claimed it was Rajasthan’s territory.
In 2023, the mafia had blasted three hills in a similar manner, causing Rs 2,100 crore losses to the Haryana exchequer.
An FIR was registered, but no arrest had been made to date, said an official. The residents claimed they had already apprised the police and the local administration about
three suspects.
“The visit by the authorities is a mere eyewash. In fact, the mining mafia is being nurtured here. Roads are made for dumpers through forests, blasting of hills is done every weekend and no action is taken. They threaten to kill us, so we cannot challenge them,” said a few villagers, expressing helplessness over the sorry state of affairs as the mafia continue to plunder the natural wealth.
