Seeking action against illegal mining, manch sends legal notice to Haryana Govt

State president of the Shivalik Vikas Manch and advocate Vijay Bansal has sent a legal notice to Additional Chief Secretary of the Mining Department and Environment Department to conduct a geospatial survey of Shivalik Hills falling in Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts to stop illegal mining and save the hills from destruction. The mining activity should be banned within 5 km from the base of the Shivalik Hills.

While visiting the hilly areas in Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Bansal observed that the mining mafia was causing irreparable damage to the environment by damaging the hillocks situated in the districts. Even the hillocks right behind the building of the Punjab and Haryana High Court have not been spared. Now, mining had become a means of earning money and the mafia enjoyed political and administrative protection as the people close to those in power, be it in politics or administration, had taken over this business, which should be investigated by a retired judge of the High Court, Bansal said.

He said the area fell in the seismic zone and was once known for its greenery and wildlife, where the Pandavas were supposed to spent a year in hiding before winning the Mahabharata.

Mining had brought all of these to the brink of destruction, he said. The then British government had enacted the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, which showed the depth of concern of the foreign rulers towards the environment, but the so-called rulers and citizens were doing exactly the opposite, he added.

The geospatial survey of Shivalik Hills falling in Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar would go a long way in preventing illegal mining and saving the hills from destruction, he said.