January 1, 2025
Satellite imagery reveals that illegal mining has devastated Rajasthan's Sota river, leading to depleted riverbeds, flattened hills, habitat loss and health issues. But local officials still claim there is no illegal mining in the area.
In April 2024, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered an investigation in response to a petition alleging illegal mining and stone crushing in the Sota riverbed. Over the course of a few hearings, district officials went on record to deny any such activity.
However, satellite imagery accessed by Land Conflict Watch shows severe depletion of the Sota river over the years, traces of acute land degradation, and flattened hills caused by sand mining and stone blasting.
The imagery was mapped using GPS coordinates of illegal mining points, provided by the state’s Water Resource Department to NGT.
The satellite imagery showed the extent of environmental damage in a region, once home to a flourishing ecosystem that included medicinal plants such as shalparni and kheri, and critical wildlife. The images substantiated testimonies given to the NGT.
Noting the petitioners’ plea regarding the near-complete disappearance of the Sota, the NGT, in its latest hearing on 3 October, directed the district magistrate of Kotputli-Behror to prepare a time-bound action plan for its restoration.
The local residents and activists have also held protests against illegal mining operations for decades. They raised alarms about lung ailments caused by silica dust, as well as physical damage to homes and water bodies caused by blasting.
“Allergy, asthma, breathing problems and itching have become quite common,” said Kripa Devi, a resident of Jodhpura village, who dreaded the thought of the long-term impact of living so close to a cement plant that extracted raw materials through quarrying rocks.
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