(IN: Illegal mining flourishes in Rajasthan

[Guest guest]

Link: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070018947

 

*Illegal mining flourishes in Rajasthan*

 

NDTV correspndent

Saturday, July 14, 2007 (Alwar)

Illegal mining may be happening mostly at night but in Rajasthan it's

robbery in broad daylight.

 

The illegal mining contractors have been at work for long but their activity

picked up a year and a half ago with the huge boom in construction in Delhi

and neighbouring cities.

 

Now everyday hundreds of trucks arrive at Chopanki an industrial zone set up

on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway to carry away the quartzite used for buildings

and roads.

 

Its superior quality ensures it is in high demand and contractors can barely

keep up with orders.

 

This daily movement of trucks and men at the mines is clearly visible from

the industrial township from even a distance but it is yet to catch the eye

of the government.

 

*Breaking Aravali mountain*

 

As men chisel away at the rocks they are in fact breaking down the Aravali

mountain range considered one of the oldest in the country.

 

Environmentalists have argued that these mountains slow down the march of

the desert into Delhi and other parts of the country from Rajasthan.

 

It was in 2002, that hearing a public interest petition, the Supreme Court

banned mining in these eco-sensitive hills, which go through Delhi, Haryana

and Rajasthan.

 

*Big business*

 

But the ban has not been able to stop what is a big business. A fully loaded

truck carrying stones from the mines can sell for Rs 4000 at this place.

 

Most miners in the region operate a minimum of 100 trucks a day, a cool

profit of 4 lakhs every day depending upon the number of trucks they own.

 

*Pays heavily*

 

According to the contractor he pays 5000 a month to the police and

authorities to allow each of his 300 trucks to get to Delhi without any

hassles.

 

The mining department, which is supposed to keep an eye on such

malpractices, says it is often understaffed and has to rely on the police

for such operations.

 

''There is revenue loss but we penalise this by imposing fines when we catch

them,'' said Arvind Kumar Nadwana, Mining Engineer, Alwar.

 

There is a lot of demand in the adjoining areas. To meet the demand they

mine in Alwar and Bharatpur.

 

The demand for building material is only going to shoot up as Delhi starts

building the facilities for the Commonwealth games and a modern city.

 

The ban on mining has left a vacuum in which several families are today

without jobs and the only jobs going are that of the illegal mines.

 

 

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