Widespread mining activities have turned the historically and ecologically sensitive Aravalli hills region into something resembling a moonscape, as the Rajasthan government systematically ignores court orders to ban mining in the area. And for local residents, it's a health and safety nightmare

The Aravalli hills, which act as a buffer against the spread of the Thar desert into the central Gangetic plains, are being systematically blasted and destroyed, with the Rajasthan government awarding a large number of contracts for quarrying and mining activities in the area, especially in Bharatpur.

This is in complete contravention of a Supreme Court order stating that since the traditional Krishna Janambhoomi, including Deeg and Kaman tehsils in Bharatpur district, falls within the Taj Trapezium Zone, any kind of polluting activity, including mining and stone-crushing, is banned. Environmental lawyer M C Mehta has criticised the state government for deliberately violating the court order.

"The entire area is known to be environmentally sensitive. All the more reason for the state government to follow the diktat of the Supreme Court," says Mehta.

The Supreme Court ordered the closure of all mines in the region in 1997. Mines in the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana sections have shut, only to be reopened in Rajasthan. Mining has further intensified since December 2003. 

A visit to the area comes as a rude shock. A thick pall of dust hovers over the once forested hills that now resemble a lunarscape. The land is completely barren; huge trucks crawl all over the land carrying away boulders and smaller pieces of rock. Satellite images of the region, taken by the National Remote Sensing Organisation, IIT, Roorkee, point to a 26-fold increase in mining activities over the last decade.

The villagers of Deeg and Kaman tehsils have made innumerable representations to local officials calling for a halt to the mining as it has affected both their health and their livelihood. Mohant Lal, a villager from Deeg, says: "Every second child in our region is suffering from bronchial disease. Where do we have the means to take them to the hospital in Bharatpur to get them treated?"

Religious leaders and thousands of pilgrims who flock to the Brajbhoomi on padyatras have also complained to the local authorities. Many have written to the state government pointing out that the revenue lost from mining in the hills would be more than made up by an increase in tourism.

Raghav Mittal, an IIT graduate who is project director of a local NGO, the Braj Rakshak Dal (BRD) working to preserve the region, says: "If these hills are protected and developed as pasture lands, the economy of this region will get a major boost."

Even the BJP-RSS leadership has come down heavily on the chief minister for having turned a blind eye to the mining activities. But the earnings are so substantial that the state government finds it difficult to curb the scale of operations.

A local villager from Kaman who has worked as an accountant in these largely-family-owned companies, admits: "A single mine fetches my owner a profit of Rs 16 lakh per day and up to Rs 4 crore a month. The stones are crushed and then sent to Gurgaon, Delhi and Noida to facilitate the massive construction work going on there."

At present, 83 mines and 70 stone-crushing units operate in these two districts alone, say BRD activists. And I counted over 60 brick-building kilns which require a great deal of water to operate and are known to be environmentally unsound.

The most frightening aspect of these activities is that although the miners have assured the villagers that they will only begin dynamiting the hills after 2 pm, allowing the village women and children to graze their cattle in the mornings, they seldom stick to it. I heard the explosions start as early as 11 am.  

A local activist, Haribol Baba, who was accompanying us, said: "There is no count of the number of villagers, including women and children and cattle, who have died or been seriously injured from falling rocks. Some months ago, six workers were crushed to death under a huge rock but because they were outsiders from Bihar their deaths were hushed up. The miners got away by giving them a little compensation."

Radhe Lal, a landless villager from Deeg, who worked a 12-month stretch in one of the mines but was dismissed from his job following an accident in which six workers were crushed to death, said: "The local sarpanch insisted that the mine owners pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of every villager who died in the accident. I suffered injuries on my arms and legs and also demanded some compensation. Incensed that the local villagers were making such demands, the mine owners  dismissed us from service and have begun importing workers from Jharkhand who work for as little as Rs 100 per day."

The villagers decided to employ an unusual method of protest against the mining activities. Along with local sants, led by Haribol Baba, they held a four-week-long kirtan puja outside one of the mines, forcing a mine owner to move to another site.

The working conditions for people in these quarries and mining sites are extremely dangerous," said Rana Sengupta who heads the Mine Labour Protection Campaign in the state of Rajasthan. "Every month, an average of three men die and 30 are injured," he said. 

The Rajasthan political leadership appears unconcerned about the damage being done to the traditional chhatris, used to cover what villagers claim are Krishna's footprints carved in stone. Villagers claim that several chhatris have been destroyed.

"All our religious granths swear by Krishna's raas leela. This blasting has destroyed the old forests, chhatris and temples, and yet the central government continues to turn a blind eye to what's going on," says Vineet Narain, convenor of the BRD.

"The desert is moving westward at a relentless pace. That is why we have been stressing that afforestation of these hills would help restore the ecological balance as well as result in a correction of rainfall patterns," Narain adds. 

-- Rashme Sehgal 

InfoChange News & Features, January 2008