Aravalli range along the Bewar-Jaipur stretch of NH-17, near Nasirabad in Ajmer, Rajasthan.file photo: Rohit Jain Paras  

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed shock over the disappearance of 31 hills in the Aravalli area of Rajasthan and asked the State government to stop illegal mining in the 115.34-hectare area there within 48 hours.

The top court said that even though Rajasthan was earning royalty of around Rs. 5,000 crore from mining activities in the Aravallis, it cannot endanger the lives of lakhs of people in Delhi as the disappearance of the hills could be one of the reasons for rise in pollution level in Delhi-NCR.

A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta referred to the status report filed by the Rajasthan government and said it indicated that illegal mining activity was going on in 115.34 hectare area in Aravalli range in the State.

It also referred to a report of the Central Empowered Committee, which had said that out of 128 samples taken by the Forest Survey of India, as many as 31 hills or hillocks had vanished.

“Thirty-one hills or hillocks have disappeared. If hills will disappear in the country, what will happen? Have people become ‘Hanuman’ that they are running away with hills?,” Justice Lokur asked the counsel appearing for Rajasthan.

“Around 15%-20% of hills have vanished in Rajasthan. This is your ground truth. Whom you want to take for a ride?,” the Bench asked, adding that the State has failed to protect the Aravalli range from illegal mining.

The top court said that it was compelled to pass an order to stop illegal mining activities in the area within 48 hours as it appeared that the State has taken the issue “very lightly”.

It directed the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan to file an affidavit regarding compliance of its order within the week and posted the matter for October 29.

Mining activities in the Aravallis... cannot endanger the lives of lakhs of people in Delhi as the disappearance of the hills there [in Rajasthan] could be one of reasons for rise in pollution level in the National Capital Region

Supreme Court Bench

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