Eye on Ram temple, Centre clears sandstone mining in Rajasthan forest land | Jaipur News

File pic of mining at Banshi Paharpur hills in Bharatpur.

JAIPUR: The Centre has given in-principle approval to free up 398 hectares of forest land in the vicinity of Bharatpur’s Band Baretha Wildlife Sanctuary to mine state’s famous red sandstone and ensure a steady supply of the material to Ayodhya for the ongoing construction of a grand Ram temple.
The move to denotify protected forest land under Banshi Pahadpur block and hand it over to the department of mining and geology is part of a larger plan to allow regulated mining with minimal environmental impact and simultaneous afforestation.
“In the 398 hectares that are to be diverted, we expect to develop about 70 mining blocks and auction those,” additional chief secretary (mines and petroleum) Subodh Agarwal said.
“We have already started delineating the area and aim to complete it by the end of this month,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal said legal mining would not only smoothen supply of sandstone for the Ram temple, but also end law and order challenges caused by illegal mining. “Rajasthan, too, will get its due royalties if mining activities happen in a legal way.”
According to a letter from the Union environment, forest and climate change ministry, the state government needs to carry out compensatory afforestation across an area equal in size to the denotified forest zone. The state government is also required to submit a detailed cluster mining plan, incorporating scope for common green infrastructure.
On the possibility of a human-wildlife conflict due to the proximity of the Band Baretha wildlife sanctuary to the proposed mining zone, the letter to the principal secretary of forests recommends an integrated wildlife management plan and its precise implementation.
The streams in the denotified zone have to be protected since the area is semi-arid. The state government has been asked to ensure that soil and moisture conservation schemes are undertaken on the banks of these streams.
The letter also draws the authorities’ attention to open-cast mining in the area over several decades and the resultant land degradation. “At least 10% of the District Mineral Foundation Fund should be used for tree plantation on the roadside and around water bodies, preferably in the Banshi Pahadpur area,” the letter states.