India's Disappearing Mountains An activist’s battle to stop illegal mining in India’s Aravalli mountains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNbxUpFhKgY 6 Jun 2024
In northern and western India lies an ancient mountain range, the Aravallis, believed to be hundreds of millions of years old.
Stretching across almost 700km (435 miles), the mountains are home to rivers, a diverse range of trees and wildlife, and according to experts, they are the main barrier shielding millions of people from an expanding desert.
But these mountains are disappearing, ravaged by illegal mining carried out to feed New Delhi’s construction boom, prompting warnings of a looming ecological catastrophe.
Rs 5 crore to Rs 363 crore in 10 yrs: Haryana revenue from legal mining sees uptick; activists call for checks https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/rs-5-crore-to-rs-363-crore-in-10-yrs-haryana-revenue-from-legal-mining-sees-uptick-activists-call-for-checks-9321312/ May 11, 2024 The bench had said its order did not impinge on legal mining activities that are currently being carried out per valid permits and licences.
There is a blanket ban on mining in the Aravalli hills of Faridabad, Gurgaon, and Nuh districts as per a 2009 order by the Supreme Court. However, mining is permissible in four districts — Rewari, Mahendergarh, Charkhi Dadri and Bhiwani — in the state.
Neelam Ahluwalia, an environmentalist, said that she went on ground truthing trips to all seven districts of Haryana, where Aravallis fall, and found that the mountain ranges are rapidly getting destroyed in the state between legal and illegal mining. “… Haryana will soon become a desert… water-starved at the rate at which the Aravalli hills have been destroyed through legal and illegal mining,” Ahluwalia added.