Dr. Manmohan Singh

Sir,
We the members of the global community and the connoisseurs of Braj culture and heritage are outraged and deeply concerned over the brutal destruction of heritage hills of Braj which lie in the Deeg & Kaman tehsils of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

These hills lie in close vicinity to the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, Sariska Tiger Reserve at Alwar and the Taj Mahal at Agra and play a considerable role in maintaining the ecological balance of the region.

These hills have numerous footmarks, caves, rocks and other heritage sites all associated with the innumerable pastimes of Lord Krishna. Millions of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world come to visit these sites.

We have come to know that all this mining is happening illegally violating the guidelines of the Honble Supreme Court of India and ignoring the stern directions of the Central Pollution Control Board to stop all sorts of mining activities in the region with immediate effect.

As per the satellite studies conducted by Braj Rakshak Dal (www.brajrakshakdal.org) the activist group fighting for the protection and overall resurrection of Braj, the quantum of mining operations has increased to the tune of 2800 times in the last few years. At this rate, the hills of Braj would be wiped out in a mere span of 5-10 years.

Its unfortunate that the Government of Rajasthan is letting go this plunder despite the fact that these hills are central to the ecology of Braj and have prevented the desertification of the region.

We have learnt that the local people of the region are sitting on an agitation to draw the attention of the Government of India on this issue, at the Jantar Mantar of New Delhi since April 22nd.

We express our solidarity with them and earnestly request you to take appropriate measures to stop all kinds of mining activities in the entire Braj region.

We also request you to take an initiative towards conserving the pristine glory and grandeur of Braj which lies in close vicinity of Taj Mahal, by facilitating the restoration of its hundreds of Kunds, revival of its dozens of transcendental groves and the regeneration of the barren hill slopes.