Raj miners eat into Nuh Aravallis; Haryana to claim costs, plug gaps

The Haryana Government has decided to recover from Rajasthan loss worth crores of rupees caused due to illegal mining in the Aravallis by licensed miners of the neighbouring state.

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Illegal ops amid unclear demarcation

• Contractors from Rajasthan expand mining ops to Nuh citing lack of demarcation
• In 2023 alone, miners fattened several hills in Naharika, Chittora and Rava villages of Nuh district
• Haryana will now demarcate the boundary and recover Rs 2,500 cr from Rajasthan

As per an estimate, mining contractors from Rajasthan have caused Haryana a loss of Rs 2,500 crore in the last two years by illegal mining in the Aravallis along Nuh border in the garb of “confusion over jurisdiction”.

To curb the menace, the Haryana Government said it would go for remote sensing technique Lidar (light detection and ranging) and demarcate the boundary along the Aravalli hills using GPS.

Talking to The Tribune, Environment Minister Rao Narbir said, “Confusion over few land assets in the border area is common, but when mining operations are carried out over large tracts of land, it is not acceptable. Aravallis are crucial for the ecology of the region. We will not just sort out issues concerning demarcation and jurisdiction but also recover costs from Rajasthan. We will assess the loss and ask the neighbouring state to recover it from its miners and compensate us. We will also act against police inaction over illegal mining complaints.”

In 2023 alone, over 8 crore metric tonnes of mining minerals from hills spread across Naharika, Chittora and Rava villages in Nuh vanished, which not just flattened the hills but also caused the state a loss of over Rs 2,100 crore. Villagers claim since no action was taken despite registration of FIRs, mining continues unabated in the hills bordering Rajasthan.

“Illegal mining is a big menace in 30 bordering villages. The miners claim that the hills fall in Rajasthan. Last year, a hill collapsed when they mined it from their side. The debris has not been cleared till date. FIRs were registered, but no action was taken even a year after the incident,” said a member of Rava village panchayat.

Earlier in February 2023, both the Haryana and Rajasthan governments had started a survey to define the border along the hills, but none accepted each other’s demarcation report. A senior Haryana mining department official said in many villages, as many as 15 acres of land was found in Rajasthan miners’ possession. Mining Officer Anil Atwal could not be contacted.

A 2023 study revealed that between 1975 and 2019, nearly 8 per cent of the Aravali hills have disappeared. It projected the loss to rise to around 22 per cent by 2059, if rapid urbanisation and mining continued at the current pace.