High Court raps Haryana over mining violations in Aravallis
Seeks Chief Secretary’s affidavit
Admonishing Haryana for “callousness”, possible “connivance” of officers and a prima facie case of “loot and plunder of natural resources”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Chief Secretary to personally examine alleged large-scale environmental violations in a mining area in Charkhi Dadri and file an affidavit explaining how the state proposes to deal with “vast extent of environmental plundering”.
The Bench was told that the area falls in the Aravallis.
Referring to a report prepared by an advocate appointed by the court as commissioner, the Bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Rohit Kapoor said he inspected the site on December 6, 2025, before submitting the report. A drone survey report was also placed before the Bench. “What is seen with the naked eye, is not only disturbing but is also bewildering. It prima-facie appears to be a case of blatant violation of environmental norms contained in the environmental clearance certificate as well as mining plan causing loot and plunder of natural resources”.
The court was unsparing on the administration’s role in the matter. “The other unfortunate aspect noticed by us is the callousness on part of the state authorities in the discharge of their duties, which has led to such an unfortunate situation.”
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The case arises from allegations of indiscriminate illegal mining at Pichopa Kalan village in Charkhi Dadri district, which allegedly exceeded approved limits, damaging agricultural land, ecology and environment. The Bench was assisted by senior advocates Shailendra Jain and Amit Jhanji.
The Bench directed the Chief Secretary to file an affidavit, specifying not only how the state intended to deal with the environmental devastation but also how responsibility of erring officials would be fixed.
The court also noted with concern that mining was permitted only up to 3 metres above the water table, but “the level of ground water table is not specified and is left to speculation. Preservation of ground water from contamination and depletion of water table, thus cannot be ensured.”
