October this year will mark the 10 year anniversary of the Supreme Court banning mining in the Aravalli region in Haryana. It is an anniversary that will be greeted with decidedly mixed feelings among local villagers, but with fondness on the part of the many real estate speculators who have seen the value of their landholdings skyrocket in recent years.
The Aravallis cut across a broad swathe of northern and western India stretching from Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west to Haryana and Delhi in the east. Over the next few months, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to lift the ban on mining in the ecologically sensitive region, home to a range of wildlife, and which also acts as a crucial source of groundwater for Delhi and its surrounding satellite towns.
Before 2002, the region was also a major source for grit and sand for the construction industry, not just in the national capital, but across the country. The region also supplied half the country's requirement of silica, a critical input in materials such as glass and semiconductors.
The ban was imposed because of environmental concerns it was subsequently tweaked over the years by the court to varying degrees. Mining in the Rajasthan Aravallis was allowed months after the ban was imposed, while the restrictions remained in place in Haryana, in the Faridabad and Gurgaon districts.
In 2009, the court reaffirmed this ban, and asked the Haryana government and miners to come up with a rehabilitation plan for the area. Over the next few weeks, the Central government's Ministry of Environment and Forests will submit a report on those plans to the court, based on which the judges will take a call. If the rehabilitation plans pass muster, the ban on mining in the Aravalli region in Haryana could be lifted.
But what effect has the ban had over the past 10 years? As mining has declined in importance, there are encouraging signs that the environmental payoffs are working out. But ironically, even as mining comes to a halt, the Aravallis are facing a potentially bigger long-run challenge: real estate speculation.
(Sourced from ET)
