To,

The Chief Justice of India,

Supreme Court, Delhi.

SUBJECT: No Mining in Aravallis & Increase Haryana’s Forest cover to 20% by 2024

To,

The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India,

Haryana has the lowest forest cover in India, just 3.62%. Aravallis in Haryana have been under huge attack from illegal felling of trees, encroachments, mining and dilution of protective laws such as the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) Amendment Bill. Illegal sand and stone mining has not stopped for a day, even during the lockdown in 2020. Even in Aravalli areas which are not easily accessible, there are tractor trails for vehicles to illegally carry back truckloads of all kinds of stone during the night and early morning. Sand mining is at an all-time high on camel back in places like Bharadwaj Lake. Damage done from illegal mining is clearly visible in the Aravalli belts of Pandala, Damdama, Sehjawas, Ghamroj, Mangar, Asola Bhatti etc.

Haryana government’s move to legalising mining in the Aravallis will lead to severe environmental impacts threatening the survival of millions of people living in the National Capital Region as well as the wildlife that calls these forests home.

• National Capital Region’s air pollution will worsen if the Aravallis are destroyed as these are the only natural barriers NCR cities have against desertification. The Thar desert is drifting towards NCR through 12 identified gaps in the Aravallis. Mining has already destroyed 31 Aravalli hills out of a total of 128 in Rajasthan and resulted in large scale deforestation. Illegal mining is going on rampantly in Haryana Aravallis as well despite the ban by Supreme Court.
• Aravallis with their natural cracks and fissures have the potential to put 2 million litres of water per hectare in the ground every year. A serious ecological impact of mining in Haryana has been the drying of lakes and water bodies. Delhi and NCR cities are already extremely water stressed and ground water tables are rapidly declining.
• Aravallis in Haryana are a biodiversity hotspot with 400+ species of native trees,shrubs and herbs,200+ native & migratory bird species, 100+ butterfly species, 20+ reptile species and 20+ mammal species including leopards. Shrinking habitat in the Aravallis due to illegal encroachments and mining has forced wild animals to venture into areas outside the forest in search of food and water leading to more cases of man-animal conflict.

Citizens Demands to Protect Aravallis in Haryana:

1. All non-forest activities including mining and real estate should not be allowed in the forest areas of Aravallis.
2. Government needs to make a 3-year roadmap to reach 20% legal native forest cover by 2024 according to the Haryana forest department policy target and all India average.
3. All illegal constructions in the Aravallis need to be demolished and illegal mining to be stopped and native plantation done to reclaim Aravalli forest land.
4. Number of forest check posts and guards patrolling the Aravalli forests need to be increased significantly and drones purchased for INR 20 lakhs need to be used for surveillance to stop illegal tree felling, encroachments and mining activities.
5. Strict action needs to be taken against the land and mining mafia carrying out illegal felling of trees, constructions and mining and deal with them seriously under the laws of the land.