In Part I of this series, we showed you the importance of a clear definition for the Aravallis by taking you to the village of Deepawas in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, along the lively green banks of the clear Girjan river. In Part 2, we bring you what activists predict can happen to the Girjan if its fate flows along the same lines as that of the Kasawati river near Kotputli-Behror, just 20 km away. And why implementing existing regulations and protections are important for the Aravallis here.Kotputli-Behror/Sikar (Rajasthan): A small trickle of water trudges courageously over brown-gray sands, under clumps of dusty phoenix trees and thorny scrub struggling to stay green. No bird song punctuates the scenery here, only the bellows of a stone crusher – loud, grating and constant.Monochrome is the mood. Dust, fine and a shade of light pewter, hangs in the air. It is hard to breathe. Visibility is low — just about 20 metres or so. A trickle is all that remains near Neemod of the Kasawati, or Krishnavati river, in northeastern Rajasthan. On its left bank, a stone crusher operates in full swing. Photo: Aathira Perinchery/The Wire.“This is the Kasawati river now,” Kailash Meena says, pointing to the water stuttering by. “It used to flow like the Girjan.”The banks of the Kasawati river near Neemod in Sikar district in Rajasthan are a striking contrast to those of the Girjan at Deepawas, just about 20 km away. This is an example of what Deepawas could become – if illegal mining is allowed to flourish, Kailash says. The Kasawati, or the Krishnavati river, is a tributary of the Sahibi river and this makes it a part of the Ganga river basin. Running almost parallel to some stretches of the Kasawati is the Rajasthan State Highway 37B which connects Nim Ka Thana and Kotputli. Between the villages of Neemod and Dokan – a short seven km stretch – mining, stone crushing and washing units line either side of the road in shocking frequency.A stone-crushing unit on State Highway 37B, near Neemod, Rajasthan. Photo: Aathira Perinchery/The Wire.Even a cursory examination shows that there are several visible illegalities in the location of units here. One criteria that the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board lays down in its guidelines dated 2011 is that the aerial distance from the boundary of the land on which the crusher units or mines stand must be at least 100 metres from State or National Highways, and at least 50 metres from other roads. Many stone crusher units on either side of State Highway 37B clearly violate this rule.Here’s one example. Modi Aggregate Solution, a crushed stone supplier belonging to the Modi Groups (which calls itself “a pioneer in Rajasthan’s stone crushing and mining industry”), is located right on State Highway 37B. (See image below)Source: Google Maps, 2026. At the centre is Modi Aggregate Solution, a stone crushing unit. Note what this same landscape looked like in 2014:Source: Google Maps, 2026. This was what the same area looked like in late 2014.This region is a notified dark zone, Kailash says. A dark zone is an area where the groundwater has been “over exploited”. “Water is permitted to be extracted only for human use,” he says. “But here they wash the crushed stone using this water, so that people in cities get washed crushed stone for construction use…this is happening on the state highway and the law is not being implemented.”Kailash, along with others, had filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding mining illegalities along the Kasawati river – both on its banks and the riverbed. However, in a recent reply to the NGT, the National Mission for Clean Ganga under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti claimed that “appropriate institutional mechanisms are already in place” to protect the river and ensure that there is no illegal or unregulated mining. The reply also stated several country-specific actions that are being taken on paper without commenting on how this was being applied to protect the Kasawati river. “What do I say except wait for the final order,” says Kailash, in response. The NGT is scheduled to give the final verdict on April 14. Kailash’s fight for the Kasawati and the Aravallis in this area has come at a cost. He says his life has come under threat at least four times.Numerous studies identify mining, and specifically, illegal mining, as a prime concern in the Aravallis. A book chapter in 2021 identified “illegal and rampant mining”, as well as unorganised urbanisation, over-exploitation of natural resources, introduction and spread of invasive species, disposal of untreated sewage and solid waste and deforestation as major threats. There is a “conflict” between what happened in deep time and what is happening now, said geologist C.P. Rajendran, while speaking about the Aravallis and its formation at the Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute at Nimli, Rajasthan, on February 26. Erosion processes and degradation (of stone formations) over billions of years formed the Aravallis we see now. But now, degradation is happening over a very short time and entirely due to human activity, he said. “It is an accelerated degradation now…and it is blocking the ecological services provided by the Aravallis.”A yatra to document threats To document some of this degradation, citizens under the banner of the Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyan travelled through all districts of the Aravallis across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi over 38 days. This journey, the Aravalli Sanrakshan Yatra, began on January 24 in Meghraj in Gujarat and ended on March 2 in Delhi. One obvious learning from the Yatra was that there is a lot of legal and illegal mining happening across these districts, Ahluwalia, who led the Yatra, said. “And even legal mining is flouting all rules and norms. Peoples’ lives are being very negatively impacted. Throughout the Aravalli belt, water is a huge issue. Groundwater has plummeted where there is mining happening because in many cases mines breach the groundwater level and pump out the water for mining. This is a huge waste. Plus, surface water bodies have got contaminated as a result of mining and blasting,” she told The Wire.Mines in Sikar, Rajasthan. Photo: Aathira Perinchery/The Wire.The Yatra also showed how public health has been affected due to mining and related activities, Ahluwalia said. Sadhna Meena, a Bhil adivasi community leader from the Jawar mines area in Udaipur district who was among the several activists who took part in the Yatra, noted how only the faces of people kept changing across each district in the Aravallis – while the problems they faced were similar.“Many villagers also spoke out about how NOCs (no-objection certificates) are being given without their consent. The cumulative effect of mining has been the systematic dismantling of rural livelihood systems, agriculture, livestock rearing, forest-based livelihoods and water-dependent occupations, replacing them with environmental degradation, economic distress and forced migration,” she said. “The continued destruction of the Aravallis directly violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and threatens the survival of rural communities who have lived in these landscapes for generations.”Among the activists’ demands is that illegal mining be halted entirely across the four states, and that no licensed mining and stone crushing activities should be allowed near human habitation, agricultural fields, water bodies and wildlife sensitive zones so that rural communities, cattle and wildlife are able to live peacefully without suffering from adverse health and livelihood impacts.