Surge in raids rattled mining mafia in Haryana

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, July 19

The recent orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), mandating month-long inspection of the Aravallis for mining, reportedly escalated the police and mining mafia friction.

Repeated raids, arrests, closure of sites and impounding of vehicles had reportedly left the mafia upset over losing their business.

The murder of Taoru Deputy Superintendent of Police Surender Singh, while raiding one such site, has, meanwhile, left the entire state shocked. The NGT, had on May 23, directed the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and the administrations of Gurugram, Faridabad and Nuh to form a joint committee and carry out inspections in the Aravallis for almost a month and submit a report in three months.

A senior official revealed that the accused, the cleaner, caught by the police, had instigated the driver to run the dumper over the Deputy Superintendent of Police. “The dumper was trying to flee, but got blocked by a stone and they were trying to remove it. It was then that the DSP Surender came there in his jeep. He thought the vehicle had stopped, but the cleaner Ikkar, who was nabbed by us, told the driver to rush and run the vehicle over him,” said the official.

Tussle between cops, mafia for a month

The ongoing inspection and raids in the hills were leading to a major tussle between the police and mining mafia for over a month now. A senior cop

Cleaner instigated the driver

The dumper was trying to flee, but got blocked by a stone. The duo was trying to remove it. It was then that the DSP came there. He thought the vehicle had stopped, but the cleaner told the driver to run him over. An official

Speaking to The Tribune, the official revealed that the ongoing inspection and raids in the hills were leading to a major tussle between the police and the mining mafia for over a month now.

“The frequency of inspections and raids had increased over the month and the miners who were unable to operate in such conditions had long been upset. The dumpers are being impounded and challaned regularly and there are night raids also, which had completely dampened the business and the mafia couldn’t take it,” he said.

“We have been conducting regular raids in the hills to eliminate mining and have scored huge successes. We have zero tolerance towards illegal mining,” said Superintendent of Police Nuh Varun Singla.

CM Manohar Lal Khattar promised the elimination of mining mafia in Haryana and announced that police posts would be set up near the mining area as well as these would be set up on the border with other states. It’s been 13 years since the Supreme Court ordered a blanket ban on mining in Aravallis in 2009, but it continues relentlessly and illegally in hills of Gurugram, Faridabad and Nuh.

Various sites are being quarried for decades for stones used in construction and as per the records of the Mining Department, the menace has surged steeply in the last two and half years during the pandemic. As per the records, while Rs 10.7 lakh were recovered in 2018-19, the recovery shot up to a massive Rs 8.2 crore in 2020-21. The illegal miners took advantage of lesser vigil during the pandemic. The recovery in 2021-22 July this year stands at Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 29.7 lakh till July this year. The Aravallis are the key source of stone quarrying. The stones are taken to crushers for being reduced to gravel and sand. The gravel is sold at around Rs 750 a tonne in the white market, but is illegally procured at anything between Rs 400-500 a tonne from crushers. A petition filed recently at the NGT by the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement alleged that mining was rampant in at least16 locations.

Aravallis centre of stone quarrying

• The illegal miners took advantage of lesser vigil during the pandemic.
• The recovery in 2021-22 July this year stands at Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 29.7 lakh till July this year.
• The stones are taken to crushers for being reduced to gravel and sand. Gravel is sold at Rs 750 a tonne in the white market, but is illegally procured at anything between Rs 400-500 a tonne from crushers.