A committee has been formed to investigate cracks in villages of Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district, allegedly due to illegal soapstone mining. This action follows the Uttarakhand High Court’s directive for an on-site inspection and a report within two weeks.
Uttarakhand: A committee has been constituted to probe the emergence of cracks in several villages of Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district, allegedly resulting from illegal soapstone mining. This move follows directions issued by the Uttarakhand High Court.
A bench of Chief Justice G. Narendran and Justice Subhash Upadhyay has ordered an on-site inspection of all mining locations and instructed that a detailed report be submitted within two weeks.
The decision came while hearing multiple suo motu public interest litigations concerning structural damage reported from Kanda tehsil and nearby villages. These matters form part of larger environmental concerns linked to nearly 165 mining units operating in the region.
The court-appointed committee comprises noted environmentalist Dr. Ajay Rawat along with experts from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), among others.
Local residents allege that large-scale soapstone extraction has led to land subsidence and environmental degradation. They claim that abandoned mining pits have not been restored and that mining operators frequently violate regulations by using explosives and heavy machinery.
Earlier, villagers from Kanda tehsil had written to the then Chief Justice, detailing how illegal mining had damaged farmland, homes, water pipelines and essential infrastructure. The letter also noted that wealthier residents had already migrated to Haldwani and other towns, leaving mostly economically weaker villagers behind.
Villagers fear that the mining lobby is determined to destroy their livelihoods despite numerous complaints and memorandums submitted to authorities.
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The situation has created growing anxiety in the affected areas as citizens continue to seek effective action.
The findings of this inquiry committee will play a vital role in assessing the scale of environmental and structural damage caused by soapstone mining in Bageshwar and may shape future mining regulations and policy decisions in the state.