900 trucks carrying 2.7L cubic feet illegally mined sand from Aravallis caught this year

Gurugram: Authorities have intercepted 900 trucks full of sand and stones illegally mined from the Aravallis in Gurugram and seized 2.7 lakh cubic feet of illegally mined sand this year, imposing fines of up to Rs 56 crore.

And a large number of illegal mining incidents continue to be reported in the forested area here despite the pandemic.

Despite a firm stance adopted by law enforcement officials, there have been complaints of large-scale mining occurring in the forest of Aravallis. Besides Gurugram, large scale mining is being reported from forest areas adjoining Nuh.

With large-scale construction happening in Gurugram and other parts of the National Capital Region, miscreants continue to exploit the forest hills by illegally mining sand and dust. As per various environmentalists, over 31 hills in Aravalli forests in Gurugram have been eroded due to illegal mining.

There have been many cases earlier in which those illegal miners when caught have tried to attack the law enforcement officials. On Sunday, this was seen when a trucker carrying illegally mined stones tried to run over the cops when hailed to stop. While there was no casualty or injuries, the law enforcement officials, however, were not able to catch the truck driver. This incident was reported from Bilaspur along the Delhi-Jaipur Highway on Sunday night.

A special team has been formed by the Gurugram Police to check and prevent the illegal mining that occurs in the Aravalli forests. For long, there have been allegations that illegal mining has continued because of a lack of action from the public agencies of Gurugram as well as Faridabad.

"Due to the poor state of affairs of local governance, the Supreme Court has stepped in to save the Aravallis. Despite the intervention of Higher Judiciary, encroachment, tree felling and mining continue to be rampant in Aravallis," said Ritika Dube, one of the green activists in

Gurugram.

Speaking of action taken against illegal mining, a senior official from Gurugram Police said, "The fact that our officials have been attacked highlights we are taking strict action against illegal mining. A special team has been formed to check and prevent illegal mining and we have been able to prevent a large number of incidents of illegal mining in Aravallis of Gurugram."