Expressing concern over the threat to heritage monuments due to the unchecked mining in Braj region of Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has asked the state government to take urgent steps to check further damage to the heritage zone.

ASI Director C Babu Rajeev, on October 10, wrote to the Rajasthan Chief Secretary referring to the “continuous blasting, mining in stone quarries and the operation of stone crushing machines” in the region which had caused “serious environmental pollution in the area to the detriment of the protected monuments”. He asked the government to take appropriate action to halt the blasting of rocks and stone quarrying in the vicinity of the protected monuments.

The letter was produced before the Supreme Court last week during the hearing on a PIL seeking the court’s intervention to curb the damaging actions. The letter also refers to the findings of an ASI’s expert team which had earlier carried out inspection of the Chaurasi Khamba temple in Kaman and Deeg Palace at Deeg Tehsil in Bharatpur.

The team found that dust from the stone crusher machines was causing environmental pollution. This, the team’s report said, in the long run may “cause adverse effect to the monument”, which is made of well ornamented sandstone. The 84-pillared temple is believed to be the ruins of the palace of King Nanda, Lord Krishna’s foster father. The other historical site which falls within the area is the Deeg Palace, built by 17th century King Surajmal.

Though the nearest quarrying site in the area is two kilometres from the temple, the team recommended that all mining and stone crushing activities in the area be stopped immediately lest the mining spreads to new places and the damage caused by pollution becomes irreversible. The team also observed that the area falls within the Taj Trapezium Zone.

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