All are losers if Aravallis are lost to illegal mining, construction

Sumedha Sharma in Gurugram

Sumedha Sharma in Gurugram

Picture this: a thick shrubby forest with seasonal ponds, small temples linked to tattered roads, rumours of robbers striking anytime and occasional sightings of leopards. That is how most of us remember the Aravallis that encircle Mewat, Gurugram and Faridabad.

About 15 years ago the fastest way to reach Faridabad from Gurugram was infamous 'Pahad wala raasta'. The moment you turned towards modern day Bristol Chowk, you entered the desolate realm of hills. The entire two-hour journey was on a lonely stretch frequented by military vehicles. You had elevations, picture-perfect valleys, and a huge radar tower.

Any wrong turn would land you in a thick forest with no help for direction.

It all looks like a fable: The 'raasta' is now a toll road bringing the two citites closer by almost an hour.

Though you have stunted shrubs lining the roads but these are not thick. There are mounds of construction debris dumped here and there. Every few kilometers, you have a luxury condominium already constructed or under-construction. The elevation and fall of a road is long lost. The transformation highlights how things have changed for the Aravallis.

“We lived in a village tucked away on a hillock. Most of us reared cattle and sold milk. Today we are an indispensible part of Gurugram. About a decade back we had a deep pond here. Today the water body lies buried under a residential society,” says Hukum Gujjar (70) of Ghata village.

He knows all that had given way to mining and the real estate boom.

“Things changed in 1990: it was late evening one day when we heard a loud burst: there were huge machines that pulverized hills into sand. Many of us gave up cattle rearing and small-time farming to join the work. There were so many hillocks… we thought this work would go on forever,”recalls  Chandi Pehalwan (80), a resident of Pali village in Faridabad.

There are over 250 villages located within the Aravallis, all witness to the two decades of exploitation and harassment. The villagers now fear the demise of natural resources.

“It takes thousands of years for an ecosystem like that in the Aravalli to develop. It can be harnessed for sustainable development for another thousand years,” says Dr Nawal Kishore, professor, department of geology Panjab University. 

"What is most unfortunate is that though a lot of noise is made on what is lost, nobody cares to save what is left," says Dr Kishore.

He along with a few others had conducted a survey in 2015 on the impact of mining activities on the socio-economic life of the people. The survey highlighted how mining not only affected the area environmentally, but also killed self-sustaining village economies and even the education opportunities.

It said almost 90 per cent village youth did not study beyond Class 10. Less than 1 per cent of the youth were found to be graduates in the core mining villages. The villagers became contractors and drivers. 

When mining came to an abrupt end, the youth were left with no skills and soon took to illegal mining, which continues unchecked. Recently villagers of Bhango and Chahalka told government officials how their water bodies disappeared owing to mining in nearby hills.