Haryana launches toll-free number to report illegal mining in Aravallis

The Haryana mining department launched a toll-free number on Friday where the public at large will be able to register complaints on illegal mining in the Aravallis.

The public can lodge their complaints 24/7 at 1800-180-5530. Three officers will be deployed in three shifts of eight hours each at the control room that has been set up in Faridabad.

Nuh-Gurugram mining officer Anil Kumar on Friday said that the mining department has deployed three officials in three shifts to ensure all calls are answered.

“We have set up a control room at the department’s district mining office in Faridabad’s Neelam Chowk. Three officials will be deployed in an eight-hour shift each and will maintain records of the calls received. The information will be passed on to senior officers who will conduct raids with the help of the police,” Kumar said, adding that the identity of the callers will not be revealed.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in November last year had directed the state government to set up a control room and notify a phone number as per directives that came after a petition was filed by the Aravalli Bachao Citizens’ Movement. The forum had alleged that stones were being cleaved off from hills in 16 locations across Gurugram, Nuh and Faridabad despite a Supreme Court ban on mining in the protected area.

The NGT bench of Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Afroz Ahmad had also summoned senior officials of the Haryana Police, forest and wildlife department, mining department and the Haryana Pollution Control Board, asking them to clarify details about illegal mining and measures taken against it.

An eight-member committee formed by the NGT in May last year had “noticed signs of mining” during its inspection of the Aravallis and had said that it suggested “illegal mining was still continuing”.

The committee had told the tribunal that it had spotted nine mining sites in Gurugram and Nuh.

The Supreme Court in 2009 had banned mining in the Aravallis of south Haryana, but illegal quarrying of stones for construction has continued unabated.

According to available data, 81 vehicles were seized for illegal mining in Gurugram and 75 lakh was imposed as penalties, while in Nuh, 93 vehicles were seized and 34 lakh was imposed as penalties last year.

The managing trustee of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens’ Movement, Jyoti Raghavan said, “We are pleased to hear that the Haryana government has acted on the NGT directives to check illegal mining in the Aravallis. We also urge the government to use drones for regular surveillance and monitoring of all Aravalli areas in Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Palwal, Rewari and Mahendragarh so that illegal mining can be nipped in the bud”.