NEW DELHI, 8 JUNE: The Supreme Court today sought response from the Centre and the Rajasthan and Haryana governments on allegations that large scale illegal mining and depletion of forest cover was

JAIPUR/ALWAR: After being pulled up by the Rajasthan High Court for failing to curb illegal mining, the Alwar police kicked off a campaign against the menace in Tapukada and Behror area late on Wednesday night. The authorities seized a large number of mining equipment and cordoned off a huge area where the illegal activities are being carried out.

The founder of an NGO, which works to eliminate manual scavenging, today offered his services to the government for eradicating the social evil in next three years.

JAIPUR: Just five days after a labourer was killed and several others had a narrow escape in Harmara area, villagers alleged that unsafe mining practices have resumed in over 50 licensed stone mine

It seems the state government and the police have met a dead end when it comes to curbing illegal mining. At one level, labourers are getting killed due to poor safety standards or mine collapses. At another level, when the police are asked to pull up socks against the mafia, they themselves are attacked.

On Monday, in Asojai village on the outskirts of Jaipur, one mine worker was killed and three others injured when a portion of a mine collapsed. On the same day, a braveheart policeman was mowed down by mining mafia in Dholpur when he attempted to stop trucks carrying stones.

JAIPUR/ALWAR: A group of about 100 illegal miners opened fire and pelted stones at a police team in Alwar's Nakhnol area on Friday in a sheer disregard for law and the law keepers.

The incident happened when a police team had swopped down on an area known as Loharon Ki Dhani after getting a tip-off about illegal mining there. The police were, however, not bogged down by their threat and managed to arrest three men, including an explosive expert, after giving them a chase for almost 15 km.

By the time you read this, Rajasthan’s Sariska Tiger Reserve may have reached a flashpoint yet again. By 14 May, more than 4,000 police personnel were deployed in the area.

It took a year of peaceful protests for 3,000-odd villagers of Rojka Meo in Mewat district to finally get their due.

Rajasthan, which had prided itself on leading the way in relocation of villagers from its tiger reserves, is now facing a backlash. Villagers living inside Sariska reserve are in agitation mode and are refusing to be relocated.

Their complaint is that the `10 lakhs being offered to them by the government is completely inadequate. Gujjar leader Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla is also supporting their agitation which is also being fuelled by mine owners who operate on the boundaries of Sariska and who want to restart their mining operations.

Plans to use UID cards to reach out to beneficiaries, following successful pilot project in Alwar, Rajasthan

The government said today that it planned to provide direct subsidy to beneficiaries of kerosene oil and a pilot project in this regard in Alwar district of Rajasthan was yielding good results. "Direct subsidy on kerosene is planned in future...We have to move towards it. It will be done using UID cards... We are benefiting from the pilot project," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas RPN Singh said in the Rajya Sabha.