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 Rajasthan’s famous red sandstone and ensure a steady supply of the material to Ayodhya for the ongoing construction of the 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. We have already started delineating the area and aim to complete it by the end of this month,” additional chief secretary (mines and petroleum) Subodh 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. 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 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. We have already started delineating the area and aim to complete it by the end of this month,” additional chief secretary (mines and petroleum) Subodh 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. 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.