In what is being billed as the biggest crackdown on illegal mining in Aravalli Hills under Bharatpur district in Rajasthan, the police arrested over 100 people and seized a number of equipment and vehicles used in the illegal mining activities. Nature enthusiasts expressed their concern over the unabated illegal miming in restricted Aravalli Hills.
‘’We have arrested over 100 people who were found involved in the illegal mining, “said Vikas Kumar, superintendent of police, Bharatpur .
The police officials were surprised when they found miners brazenly violating the law. Stones and sand is taken from the forest area and transported to the neighbouring Haryana and Delhi. District Bharatpur shares border with Guargaon district of Haryana where stones are in a huge demand for building activities. “We have been receiving information that illegal mining was taking place at a large scale. That s why the police swung into action on Thursday and arrested these people,” said Mr Kumar. The environmentalists have been speaking against the illegal mining in this part of Aravlli Hills. In 2010, the mining mafia killed a home guard when he tried to stop a group of men who were loading tractors with sand stones in Bharatpur district.