62 illegal stone crushers active in MP tiger reserve

Despite a ban on mining/stone crushing activities in the eco-sensitive zone of the national parks, over 62 stone crushing units were, according to documents accessed by The Tribune, operational around Ratapani Tiger Reserve in violation of the guidelines set by the Union Environment Ministry

Early this month, the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh was notified as a tiger reserve.

While the MP Government received approval from the Union Environment Ministry in 2007 to declare the sanctuary as a tiger reserve, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said the mining mafias influenced the government to not to go ahead with the declaration of tiger reserve.

Dubey filed a PIL in the High Court which finally ordered the state government this year to issue notification for the tiger reserve.

“The crushing units are run by influential people. There was a 16 years delay in declaring the sanctuary as a tiger reserve as the mining lobby did not want it to happen. These stone crushing units are operational within the eco-sensitive zone,” Dubey told The Tribune.

“The activities in the ESZ are generally regulated and not prohibitory in nature barring a few such as commercial mining, stone quarrying and crushing units etc,” the ministry guidelines said.