The Indian Express, 29 October, 2014
The Rajasthan government, which is arguing in the Supreme Court to reduce the safety zone limit around the Sariska tiger reserve from 1 km to 100 metres, told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in June this year that there was no mining activity within 100 metres of the protected forests.
But a ground check by The Indian Express found a sprawling marble mining complex at the Dighota forest block of Jamua Ramgarh sanctuary, notified as the buffer zone of the tiger reserve.
Mining and polluting industries are prohibited in the buffer and eco-sensitive zone, an additional safety ring that may stretch to 10 km around protected forests.
While 881 sq km was notified as the core critical area of the Sariska tiger reserve in 2007, a buffer of 329 sq km was declared in 2012. Rajasthan proposed to notify Sariska’s eco-sensitive zone in 2011 by reducing the limit to 100 metres and the matter is being examined by the Supreme Court.
Security guards at the Sankotda cluster of marble mines near Andhi turned away The Indian Express and the lone forest employee, manning the Sankotda post barely 500 metres from the mines, said he could not say how far was the mining complex from the reserve boundary.
But photographs taken from a vantage point show that the quarries extend right up to the sanctuary boundary wall — complete with buildings, freshly-cut blocks of marble, trucks and heavy machinery.
In April, while hearing a petition against mines operating close to the tiger reserve, the NGT closed 84 mines within 1 km of Sariska following a submission by the forest department and ordered a joint ground survey with the mining department. In July, the ban was revoked after Rajasthan assured the tribunal that there was no mining within 100 metres of the tiger reserve.
“The 84 mining leases are not falling within the prohibited zones like core area and buffer area of Sariska tiger reserve or. the eco-sensitive zone as proposed by the state of Rajasthan to be notified as prohibited area,” B S Sodha, Superintending Mining Engineer “duly authorised by the state government” said in an affidavit on June 18.
When The Indian Express told Sodha that conditions on the ground were different from what was said in the affidavit, he declined comment.
Rakesh Kumar Hirat, Additional Director (Mines), Jaipur circle, put the onus on the forest department. “If mining is going on somewhere, it has to be within legal parameters. If not, it is for the forest department to find out and report violations,” he said.
Rahul Kumar, who heads the Rajasthan forest department, said Chief Wildlife Warden S N Singh would be “in a better position” to comment on the matter. Singh, in turn, said the Sariska reserve management should be asked about “alleged violations” around the reserve. “I don’t know if there was any joint survey of the location of these mines,” he said
The Sariska management refused to confirm if and when a joint survey was conducted before the state submitted its affidavit. “These areas have been surveyed several times. I cannot comment on the specifics of any particular block without checking but there is no question of mining activity within 100 metres of the tiger reserve,” Manoj Parashar, Deputy Field Director of Sariska, said.
R S Agarwal, Chairman of Jaipur-based Andhi Marbles Pvt Ltd that owns mines in Sankotda, denied any violation of rules. “Some mining areas may fall within 100 metres but there is a 7-feet-high barbed-wire fence (at 100-metre distance) that only Olympic jumpers can scale,” he said. On the ground though, no barbed-wire fence could be found.
In 2003, the Central Empowered Committee asked Rajasthan to demarcate the sanctuary boundary on the ground and closed the mines in Jamua Ramgarh. Most mines were back in business in 2008 when the state mining department claimed that the boundary had been demarcated. Quarries were allowed beyond 100 metres from the sanctuary. This was in violation of the 2006 Supreme Court order which banned mining within 1 km of sanctuaries.
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