1 mining officer & an understaffed dept to watch Aravalis in Gurgaon, Nuh

GURGAON: The Aravalis in Nuh and Gurgaon are currently under the watch of just one mining officer, who has two more districts to supervise and heads an understaffed team running on less than one-third of its strength.
The two NCR districts comprise some of the most vulnerable swathes of the Aravalis and present formidable administrative challenges – illegal construction in Gurgaon and illegal mining in Nuh.
In July last year, a group of miners fleeing in a truck ran over DSP Surender Singh Bishnoi, who had intercepted them in Nuh’s Pachgaon. Nuh doesn’t have a mining division of its own, and normally, the Gurgaon mining department would be responsible for its administration.
But after the DSP’s killing, the state government posted mining officer Anil Kumar and five mining guards from other districts in Nuh. However, a government order last week (March 17) transferred Kumar to Sonipat. As a result, tracking illegal mining in the Aravalis in Nuh is back in the hands of the Gurgaon mining department.
Data shows the Gurgaon team — which also manages Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri — is working with 71% vacancies yet to be filled. Just eleven of the 39 posts have been filled. The positions lying vacant include that of 18 mining guards, nine mining inspectors and an accountant.
The division has a sanctioned strength of 25 mining guards and 10 inspectors, who are key to stopping any stone quarrying on the ground.
Officials admitted the district mining offices are understaffed. “The sanctioned strength for guards is 25, but Gurgaon has 18 guards, which makes it very difficult to protect the forests,” said Anil Atwal, the mining officer of Gurgaon.
“We need young rangers who are fit and energetic, and can protect our forests,” said another official of the department.
Anil Kumar, recently transferred to Sonipat, told TOI: “Nuh so far doesn’t have a mining division. All the guards posted at Nuh are of different districts and they, too, were moved there to increase surveillance after last year’s incident.”
The Supreme Court in 2009 imposed a ban on mining in three south Haryana districts – Gurgaon, Nuh and Faridabad – noting that the Aravali hills were fast deteriorating because of illegal stone quarrying. But despite the ban, stone mining is chipping away at the hills that are the only barrier between desert in Rajasthan and the urban sprawl of north India.
In November last year, a committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had listed in its report 38 illegal mining sites in the Aravalis of Gurgaon and Nuh based on FIRs filed over the years. Some of these had fresh signs of stone quarrying.
In the past 11 months, the Gurgaon mining department seized 40 vehicles allegedly engaged in illegal mining in the Aravalis. It imposed fines amounting to nearly Rs 1 crore on illegal miners and registered 25 FIRs. In Nuh, 102 vehicles were seized and Rs 4.87 lakh was collected in penalties for mining in 2022-23
The office of state mining minister Mool Chand Sharma said there was a dearth of mining officers in the state. “The Haryana Public Service Commission has issued advertisements for hiring of mining officers in the state. We are aware of the situation and it will take two to three months to recruit mining officers,” the office said in response to queries by TOI.