Five people were killed and three others injured in a landslide that occurred in January at Toshams Dadam, a mining zone in the Bhiwani region of Haryana. The incident highlighted the dangers to local ecology and flouting of rules in mining activities at Aravalli hills.
The incident occurred at the Dadam Stone Mining Project, which is surrounded and dominated by the Aravalli hills. It covers 48 hectares of Govardhan Mines & Minerals property. According to the official DocumentsWithin a 10-km radius from the mine lease area, there are almost three reserved forests and three protected forest. Excavating is not allowed within 100m of the surface structure. The area’s water table is 80 m deep before monsoon and 78 m post-monsoon. However the villager claims that mining is also being done in forest areas below the limit of 78 metre.
Dharambir Singh is a Bharatiya Janata Party leader who represents Bhiwani at the Parliament. Mongabay-IndiaThe excavation was being done at approximately 250 metres, exceeding the limit of 78 meters in the forest land. He stated that the contractor had sucked groundwater with high-powered motors, and made large blocks of groundwater 250 metres below the surface. Five people were killed when the base collapsed and the rocks fell as a result. The BJP leads Haryana’s state government.
Ramphal, who goes under his first name and heads village Dadam, stated that miners don’t follow rules and claimed that miners have taken all the water from the ground, which is why there is water scarcity in the area.
Our fields are drying. He said that because of the blasting, people are being forced to inhale dust particles, which causes lung-related diseases.
He stated that if the administration had listened to their complaints earlier, the incident would have been avoided. We filed a complaint with the local Police Station in October 2021. We stated that the miners were drawing water below the permitted limits and had extended their mining activities to areas in Aravallis.
Manish Phogat was the sub-divisional magistrate for the Tosham Block. Mongabay-IndiaThey had received complaints about the villagers. These issues have been a problem for a long time. We received the complaint almost three months back and forwarded it on to the concerned department (Haryana State Pollution Control Board).
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Haryana’s groundwater authority and the National Green Tribunal were the departments to which the complaint was referred. However, no action was taken.
Unscientific and illegal
Kuldeep Singh, a Dadams resident filed a case against the National Green Tribunal. The tribunal sought a report on Singh’s complaints about illegal mining in the forest and deep mining in the mining areas. Also, it requested groundwater withdrawal from the mining area without permission. It had asked Justice Pritam, a former judge from Punjab and Haryana High Courts, to verify the facts concerning illegal mining in the Dadam Hills forest by the Govardhan Mines & Minerals. On October 13, 2021, the interim report of the eight-member panel was presented.
In the ReportThe committee also noted that the paths in the forest were illegally constructed without any valid permission. Furthermore, the equipment was found in an unminable area. It stated that the Dadam hills minor had been illegally mined, and it identified two areas in the forest where illegal mining was being observed.
The committee also found out that mining is not being conducted in a scientific manner. It was discovered that mining has been done down to 109 metres, rather than the approved depth of 78 metres. This is in violation both of conditions of environmental clearance and the approved mining plan.
The report also highlighted an inspection that was done in 2020 and found groundwater being illegally extracted. Other rules were also being flouted. Following which, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board recommended closing all mines.
Despite rules being broken, Govardhan Mines & Minerals was given the go-ahead to continue mines by paying a penalty. The day that the Dadam incident occurred was actually the second day full-fledged mining, following a long ban due to inspection.
Omprakash is the head the the local farmers association. He said that the mines have impacted the livelihood of the people. Omprakash stated that the government doesn’t care about the environment or local people. They are only interested in their own profits and the profit of the mining companies.
Omprakash said that these mines promised employment for the villagers when they were established. Mongabay-India. The mines do not provide employment as they bring their engineers and labour from the outside. They also don’t take care of the environment. These mines are threatening the livelihoods of many villagers, as well as their health and safety.
Dadam is not the only one
Aravallis are one of the oldest mountain ranges in all of India. They run from Gujarat, Rajasthan and south Haryana to finally reach Delhi. Aravallis can be found in Haryana in districts like Mewat and Faridabad, Gurugram and Mahendragarh. This is because they are heavily mined.
Gurugrams have increased in popularity over the past eight years. AravallisAccording to a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal, more than 10,000 acres were lost from the Natural Conversation Zone. This zone was considered the greenest part of the city’s forest cover.
According to a report,3,676 sqkm and 776.8 square kilometers (i.e. 4.86% and 1.022% of the total Aravalli forests across the states) were converted to settlements and barren land respectively between 1975 and 2019. 5,772.7 sqkm (7.63%) has been lost in the Aravallis. According to the report, 16.360.8 sq km (21.64% of total forest land) will be converted to a settlement category by 2059.
A StudyThe study was done to examine the changes in land-use and mining activity over the 35-year period 1970-2006. The study concluded that major changes occurred mainly in areas that were formerly occupied primarily by vegetation, agriculture, forest, and were later converted into residential use.
It revealed that the urban area increased by 310.8% between 1970 and 2006. The legal and illegal mining areas increased by 587.9%, causing damage to vegetation as well as surface water. It was also noted that excessive water withdrawals due to mining activity led to a shortage in surface water.
Partik Kumar is the coordinator for the Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network. He stated that mining has had an irreversible impact on Haryana.
Kumar explained that Dadam is a mirror for other mines. Mongabay-India. Other than the Dadam Mining Zone that includes the area of Dadam, Khanak, the Dadri and Mahendargarh Mining Zones also have a similar level. It includes Pichopa Kalan and Atela Kalan as well as Kaliyana, Kaliyana, and Mayee villages. These villages are a result of the loss of agriculture and lack of groundwater, as all the mines have taken them all.
Policy lapse
In HaryanasHowever, there are many other issues. One of these is ownership, and the privatization process of land in Aravallis. In the 1970s when the common ownership norms were modified, instead of transferring the common lands to the forest department, they were instead transferred to the state government by the Punjab Village Common Lands Act.
In the 1970s and 1980s, revenue allowed the transfer to stakeholders of a share in common land. The land was divided among landowners and then sold at a low price to create opportunities for resale. This is the basis for the privatization of Aravallis, Haryana, particularly around Delhi, where there is still high real estate interest.
Another issue is about the definition of forest area. The state has not also officially declared around 60,000 acres (24.281 hectares), of the Aravallis the Natural Conversation Zon according to the 2005 Regional Plan 2021 of National Capital Regional Planning Board.
The Natural Conversation Zon status only allows construction in 0.5%. Its purpose, as stated, should be regional recreational activity. The real estate lobby continues to exploit the Aravallis forests and threaten them with deforestation and other development activities.
After an analysis of Haryana’s ecological damage, the Supreme Court of India imposed a blanket ban against mining in Haryana in 2009. In November 2011, however, the Mines and Geology Department of Haryana held an auction NotificationA few mining quarries located near Aravallis in the State. 2013 Dadam was also included.
Partik Kumar said that Haryana’s mining industry is flourishing despite the SC ban. The state granted the mining sites near Aravallis to miners in a very tactful manner. These miners operate in the Aravallis. They don’t care about protection zones or forest areas.
Kumar stated that even after ten years of the ban on mining, Aravallis is still in decline. This is also why Faridabad and Gurugram are struggling to find water.
To everyone’s surprise however, the Haryana government requested approval from the Supreme Court to allow mining to begin in the Aravallis, Gurugram and Faridabad.
Anil Kumar, Gurugram’s Mining Officer, stated that mining does not contribute to environmental degradation, as long as all precautions are taken. He stated that we need jobs for the local population and resources for government. Both will be provided by the mining. The mining will be done in an environmentally friendly manner.
Environmentalists, however, disagree. Jatinder Bhadana, an environmentalist from the area, stated that the Aravallis is a biodiversity hotspot. It contains 400 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs, 200-odd migratory and native bird species, 100-odd butterfly and mammal species, and 20-odd reptile and 20-odd mammal types, including leopards. Mongabay-India. Aravallis also recharges the watertable. However, mining has led to a rise of groundwater levels, increased pollution and storms, changing rainfall patterns, drying up lakes, and the loss of biodiversity and animals.
Bhadana demanded that any further mining be stopped as it will have an irreversible detrimental impact on the ecology of the area. The government should immediately stop all mining activities and allow the hills to breathe.
This article was first published on Mongabay.