The Aravalli vary — spanning Rajasthan, Haryana, and elements of Delhi — is also known as northwest India’s protecting barrier in opposition to the encroaching Thar desert. These historical hills play a vital function in checking desertification, recharging groundwater, regulating native climates, absorbing air pollution, and offering habitats for a wealthy number of wildlife together with leopards, hyenas, wolves, and quite a few fowl species. The forests and inexperienced cowl of the Aravallis act as a lung for the area, supporting each human and ecological communities.
Unlawful mining within the Aravalli hills is considerably draining authorities income within the state. (HT Photograph)
Nevertheless, rampant unlawful mining actions have begun to erode this pure defend.
The environmental devastation wrought by unlawful mining within the Aravalli hills is each fast and far-reaching, consultants say — systematic demolitions for stone extraction has led to the fast lack of vegetation and topsoil, remodeling these once-thriving ecosystems into barren landscapes marked by craters and open pits.
Because the safety provided by the Aravallis weakens, the encroachment of the Thar desert turns into an more and more tangible menace.
Grave penalties of rampant mining
Environmentalists warn that the destruction of the Aravallis has extreme and far-reaching penalties. “Each time a hill is blasted, we lose not just a physical structure but also the ecosystem it supports,” mentioned Vaishali Rana, an environmentalist who has studied the area for over a decade.
Her observations underline the crucial level that these hills aren’t mere rock formations however residing methods that preserve ecological steadiness.
The lack of vegetation and topsoil results in a cascade of environmental points. With out bushes and vegetation to anchor the soil, the world turns into weak to erosion. Rainwater, as a substitute of being absorbed by the bottom to recharge aquifers, runs off quickly, resulting in the formation of gullies and additional lack of fertile soil. This not solely diminishes the land’s capability for future progress but additionally undermines the pure water-retention capability essential for sustaining agriculture and offering ingesting water.
Because the hills are scarred and ecosystems are dismantled, wildlife corridors are additionally disrupted. The Aravallis function pure passageways for quite a few species; their destruction forces animals into remoted pockets, growing the danger of human-wildlife conflicts and threatening species with dwindling genetic variety.
“Protecting the Aravallis is not just a local issue; it’s a regional biodiversity imperative,” mentioned a senior official from the Haryana forest division, highlighting the broader ecological repercussions of continued mining.
Unlawful mining can also be considerably draining authorities income. The unchecked extraction of stone and minerals reduces the long-term sustainability of pure assets crucial for water retention and soil stability whereas concurrently eroding potential future earnings for the state. As massive volumes of stones are mined illegally, billions in income are misplaced—funds that might in any other case be channelled into conservation, infrastructure, training, or healthcare initiatives.
Groundwater depletion and desertification
Environmentalists warn that groundwater tables across the Aravallis have been dropping alarmingly. This discount in groundwater ranges could have drastic impacts on farming, livestock, and ingesting water availability within the coming years, additional exacerbating hardships for rural communities.
Neelam Ahluwalia, founder member of the group Individuals for Aravallis, mentioned her workforce met villagers from Ramalwas in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district in October 2024, the place individuals boycotted the state elections to convey consideration to alleged unlawful mining.
“They had been sitting on a dharna for many weeks to bring attention to their tube wells running dry and their farming and drinking water needs negatively impacted as a result of illegal stone mining by a contractor who was given a license to mine in 2015. Villagers were demanding compensation for damage done in their area and want ecological restoration and water recharge work done here. Many rivers like Sota, Kasaunti, and Katli in north Rajasthan have dried up due to excessive mining. In the name of licenced mining, a lot of illegal mining takes place in all the Aravalli belt. If mining is not regulated in the entire 670 km Aravalli range, millions of people will be facing an acute water crisis,” she mentioned.
Individually, the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas-2021, revealed by the Indian House Analysis Organisation (ISRO), revealed that 360,000 hectares — 8.2% of Haryana’s whole space — grew to become extra arid by 2018–19. Specialists straight hyperlink this desertification to the large-scale destruction of the Aravallis, consultants mentioned.
Deep-rooted menace
In areas akin to Nuh, authorities estimate that just about 858 million metric tonnes of stone have been illegally mined, amounting to a possible lack of round ₹2,000 crore. Regardless of periodic police sweeps and occasional seizures, the entrenched mafia operates with impunity, typically paying solely token fines which can be absorbed as a price of doing enterprise.
Nuh police mentioned that they’re engaged on coordinating with a number of businesses to curb this menace, however the community is deeply rooted.
“The government should enforce existing laws. Ensure that violations are met with immediate penalties, revocation of licenses, and criminal prosecutions where applicable,” mentioned Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala, calling for the formation of a excessive court-monitored particular investigation workforce (SIT) to supervise an neutral probe into the unlawful mining networks.
Haryana forest minister Rao Narbir Singh has up to now plans to make use of superior applied sciences like drones, GPS-based monitoring, and CCTVs at key exit factors to catch the unlawful transport of minerals. He highlighted that real-time information sharing between district officers, police, and the forest division is important for a coordinated response, signifying a transfer in the direction of extra proactive governance.
Regardless of mounting proof of ecological hurt, the enforcement equipment in opposition to unlawful mining stays weak. Officers in each Haryana and Rajasthan typically level to jurisdictional loopholes that enable the mafia to use borders and function with minimal oversight. If a hill straddles the boundary between two states, accountability is usually deflected, and mining operations proceed unchecked. This bureaucratic limbo lets the unlawful mining community exploit gaps in governance, blasting hills from whichever facet has looser oversight on a given day.
Since 2019, over 50 forest division checkpoints in Gurugram have been dismantled, weakening on-ground monitoring. The Enforcement Bureau, established in 2024, has proven restricted progress, registering solely a handful of FIRs — primarily in opposition to autos transporting illegally mined stone. The Aravalli Rejuvenation Board, tasked with coordinating rehabilitation efforts, has met solely as soon as since its inception, elevating important considerations concerning the authorities’s dedication to actual change. Environmentalists and native communities argue that with out sturdy enforcement and proactive coverage measures, the cycle of destruction will proceed unabated.
The human toll: Well being and livelihood
Communities residing adjoining to unlawful mining websites typically face deteriorating well being circumstances. The mud from incessant blasting and stone crushing incorporates advantageous particulates that may trigger or exacerbate respiratory illnesses like bronchial asthma and bronchitis.
Agriculture, the lifeblood of many rural communities, additionally suffers. As the encompassing areas turn into extra arid as a result of lack of vegetation and groundwater depletion, crop yields decline. Contaminated runoff from mining websites can have an effect on soil fertility, additional lowering agricultural productiveness. In some areas, repeated blasting disrupts aquifers, inflicting wells to run dry or water to turn into silt-laden, straight impacting the provision of fresh water for ingesting and irrigation.
Many activists and authorized consultants really feel that top courtroom scrutiny will be the solely manner to make sure swift, unbiased enforcement. Previous experiences with committees and activity forces counsel that native officers typically lack the desire or autonomy to dismantle a profitable underground financial system entrenched in native politics. “If the judiciary steps in, imposes heavy penalties, and demands accountability from top officials, we might see a ripple effect,” mentioned Ambika Yadav, authorized counsel for environmental circumstances.
A crucial component in curbing unlawful mining is lowering the demand for stone and uncooked supplies extracted from the Aravallis. Environmental advocates akin to Ahluwalia counsel the adoption of other constructing supplies—like recycled aggregates from development and demolition waste, fly ash-based bricks, or composites—that considerably scale back dependence on pure stone.
“If the construction industry had viable, readily available alternatives, the economic motivation to destroy these hills would diminish,” mentioned Rana.
For now, Pichopa Kalan village in Charkhi Dadri stands as a grim reminder of the destiny which will befall the Aravallis elsewhere if swift, decisive motion will not be taken. The sound of explosions and rumbling vehicles—heard from Dadri to Rajasthan—continues to symbolise enterprise as normal in an unlawful business that operates, many consider, above the regulation.