Chandigarh, July 18
A committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests will visit Gurgaon district on July 20 to inquire into the allegations of large-scale illegal mining.

The committee will study the allegations particularly in the Manesar area, situated in the Aravali range of mountains.

The ministry has set up the committee following an order of the Supreme Court when amicus curiae moved an application in the T.N. Godavarman versus the Union of India case in May last. The next date of hearing is in the first week of next month.

The amicus curiae had alleged that as per his information large-scale illegal mining activities were being carried out in Manesar, located in the Aravali range, which is older than the Himalayas and the Nilgiris. The Aravali range, he said, was an environmentally fragile zone. He said because of the illegal mining there had been rampant destruction of the environment, including the forests, of the area.

He said it appeared that the state government had failed to take any steps to avert “this decline in the environment and destruction of forests...It appears that the greenery in the area has virtually disappeared. This is due to the frequent blasting of dynamite in the area for the purpose of mining in the hills.”

He requested the apex court to constitute a committee under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to ensure that steps were taken to restore the ecology of the area and to avert all activities which were detrimental to environment.

The committee has Mr S.S. Bisht, Director (Project Elephant), MOEF, as its Chairman with Mr H.V. Palival, member, Expert Committee (Mining) a representative of the Department of Environment, Haryana, the member-secretary of the Haryana Pollution Control Board, a representative of the Central Ground Water Authority, Chandigarh, and Mr Satish C. Garkoti, Joint Director(S), MOEF, Delhi, as its members.

The terms of reference of the committee says that it will take stock of the mining activities in Manesar, including mines operating with requisite statutory approval from the agencies concerned, as well as illegal mining activities. It will also study the status of compliance with the environmental protection measures as well as quantification of impact to the extent possible, including degradation of the forest areas.

The committee will also go into the steps taken by the state government and its agencies to combat environmental degradation. It will also suggest short-term and long-term remedial measures for preventing illegal mining activities and for improving environmental and ecological conditions in the area. It may be recalled that a couple of months ago the apex court had banned all mining activities within a radius of 5 km of the national capital. The ban has caused a loss of about Rs 125 crore to Haryana. Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the CBI to inquire into the illegal mining in Faridabad district when a Faridabad-based journalist filed a public interest litigation in the court alleging that a Haryana minister and one of his relatives were illegally excavating minerals from certain areas of the district.

The CBI is yet to submit the report.

Recently, leader of the Haryana BJP Legislature Party Krishan Pal Gurjar accused the INLD government of turning a blind eye to the illegal mining being allegedly done by certain state Congress leaders in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts.