MADHAV NATIONAL PARK

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Context: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for halting mining in the ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) of Madhav National Park in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. 

Details:

• Annexure II of the ESZ notification contains a list of villages falling within ESZ and Majhera is one of those villages. 
• Majhera village was called the village of widows owing to the high death rate of male members on account of silicosis and tuberculosis caused by stone mining in the area. 
• The village was home to 25 families of Sahariya tribe — a category of a particularly vulnerable tribal group — residing within a kilometre range of the mining area. The tribe was prone to adverse effects of mining.  
• Advertisements were published for leasing out mining sites that fall within a two-kilometre range from the ESZ of the park.
• Mining had previously taken place at the sites and there was overburden in the area, the NGT said. In mining, overburden  is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation.
• Pits were created due to mining activity and rainwater had accumulated in the same. 

​​https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/ngt-stops-mining-in-ecologically-sensitive-madhav-national-park-in-madhya-pradesh-85290