New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- The Supreme Court has sought the response of the Rajasthan government on a court-commissioned report that found rampant illegal mining taking place in the core tiger habitat area of Ranthambore tiger reserve. Flagging the issue as urgent, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran on Wednesday told the state, "We know that the mining lobby in Rajasthan is very strong but not at the cost of the environment." The court passed the order after going through a report filed by a committee comprising the Sawai Madhopur collector, field director of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) and a member of the expert body of Central Empowered Committee (CEC). This committee was constituted by the court on May 30 on an application moved by one Sanjay Kumar who alleged rampant illegal mining taking place in RTR with authorities failing to take any action due to the miners enjoying political patronage. The court directed the committee to examine the allegations and recommend a phased solution to the man-animal conflict problem arising in the area due to the presence of Trinetra Ganesha temple situated in the core area of RTR and is frequented by thousands of devotees. The committee in its interim report of September 16 found the allegations contained in Kumar's application to be true. On a spot visit of the area in question by the team in August, the committee observed "heavy mining activities" inside the Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) of Ranthambhore adjoining Uliana village. The report said, "The rampant illegal mining within and around the CTH of the RTR poses a grave threat to its ecological integrity, wildlife safety, and the rule of law. Despite existing prohibitions, mining continues unabated due to inadequate enforcement, political interference, and institutional apathy." Presenting the report to the court, senior advocate K Parmeshwar assisting the court as amicus said, "This issue needs urgent attention of the state. The committee has found commercial mining taking place on a large scale in the core tiger habitat area." Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the state agreed to respond to the report. The bench said, "We expect the state to attend to the matter urgently and file a reply." The matter has been posted for further consideration on October 8. The court's order of May 30 forming the committee had also directed the state to take steps to ban mining in the core area of the RTR. "Needless to clarify that the ban on mining in the core area of Tiger Reserve shall scrupulously be followed without permitting any interference from any of the stakeholders," the order said. However, the committee found a no-holds-barred operation of mining in RTR marked by the unregulated movement of unregistered vehicles transporting illegally mined material derived in the form of rock dust. The report said that the spot can be visited only by passing through the Uliana village where local groups obstruct the entry of forest officials. The report prepared by CEC member Chandra Prakash Goyal, who is part of the committee, recommended deployment of a battalion of Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) or CISF under the direct command of an officer of proven track record. The committee was of the view that a longer period of deployment may force illegal miners to migrate to other jobs. It further proposed building a boundary wall earmarking the forest boundary and a direction to chief secretary to ensure no further mining takes place by installing real-time surveillance cameras to be monitored by police control rooms. The application by Kumar had alleged that illegal mining activities were taking place on approximately 150 hectares of land situated adjacent to Uliiana village within the CTH of the tiger reserve. Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal who had argued the application said that the mining operations involve usage of heavy machinery and repeated movement of dumpers and tractor trolleys, severely affecting the movement and behaviour of wild animals, particularly large carnivores such as tigers and leopards, which violates Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. He even questioned the role of state officials in allowing such activities when the Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) prohibits any mining, construction or vehicular movement by private citizens inside the CTH. Commenting on the issue, ACS (Forest) Anand Kumar said the directions of the Supreme Court will be followed. He added that whenever information about illegal mining is received, the district collector is informed for immediate action, and additional check posts are set up....