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PONDERING PANDITJI |
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Hey folks,
We have the world’s youngest, and we have the oldest, too. Right here in the subcontinent. A grand legacy. Then why do we treat them so shoddily? Yes, I am talking about mountain chains. While the young Himalayas still looks breathtaking in stretches, see what we have done to the Aravallis—the Earth’s earliest geological formation. It was once lush green and majestic, alive with a wild range of flora and fauna. Now it is a mass of ugly, exposed craters. The range has been savaged by mining.
This despite the Supreme Court, in 2002, clamping a total ban on mining in the Aravallis. These are “forest lands”, it said, and as per the law of the land, off-limits to miners. The range stretches from Gujarat to Delhi, and all states created a terrific uproar. All development (read construction) activities would come to a halt, cried Haryana. Miners were law abiding professionals, who had ‘permits to mine’ from government agencies! So a few months later, the Court lifted the ban partially. The miners continued to whittle away the Aravallis.
Now, six years later, the Court is crying foul. The water, the soil, in fact, the entire Aravalli eco system has been destroyed due to excessive mining activities. Most of which is illegal. Wonder what the permit-givers and the law keepers are saying now… any guesses?
– Pandit Gobar Ganesh
E-mail:
panditji@cseindia.org
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