Sariska: Will its tigers be mined into oblivion by a human predator — again?

The decision of the Rajasthan State Wildlife Board, an advisory body of the state forest department, to ‘rationalise’ the boundary of the Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) and Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) paves the way for mining in the peripheral area, thereby endangering the sanctuary.

This decision to redraw the boundaries was evidently taken under pressure from a group of mine owners, who had to cease their operations following an order from the Supreme Court.

Now, with the redrawing of the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, it is likely that over 50 mining operations on its ‘peripheries’ will likely be reactivated — as flagged Congress general secretary, in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, citing a media report that the plan to redraw the map is moving closer to approval.

The proposed changes will remove 48.39 sq. km of hilly terrain will from the tiger reserve’s ‘Critical Tiger Habitat’ area. This is supposedly being compensated by the inclusion of 90.91 sq. km from elsewhere in the surrounding the buffer zone.

Jungle Watch Group, an Alwar-based organisation, has been one of those now raising an alarm over the proposed reduction of that 48.39 sq km. They argue this will curtail the movement area of the tigers, whose population has been steadily increasing since the first tiger was relocated in 2008.

Relocated? Yes, because at one point, the reserve’s tiger population fell to zero. At that time, it was poachers to blame.

The real success story of Sariska, from zero tigers in 2004: Jairam Ramesh A promise, a decimation, a revival

The Sariska Tiger Reserve, located in Alwar district, is part of the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi and spreads over the ancient Aravalli mountain range. It is a resilient ecosystem with high prey density and is blessed with rich flora and fauna. The principal predator is the tiger, but leopards, hyenas, caracals and jungle cats also inhabit the forest.

Sariska, once a royal hunting ground of the Alwar royals, was first declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958 and later accorded the status of a tiger reserve in 1978 under the Union Government’s Project Tiger initiative.

Sariska eventually became a haven for poachers and, while the reserve had 16 tigers in 2003, all of them were lost to poaching. By 2004, the forest department confirmed that not a single tiger remained in the reserve.

The Sariska Tiger Reserve near Alwar is an outstanding example of revival.

The tiger population at Sariska had been reduced to exactly zero by December 2004 thanks to an hyper-active poaching network. This created a nation-wide shock and led to the creation of the Tiger Task… pic.twitter.com/WbnEt9XnJR

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 29, 2025

After the official confirmation of the extinction of tigers in the reserve, the Rajasthan forest department relocated two male tigers from Ranthambhore in 2008 and the tiger's roar was heard in Sariska once again. Subsequently, a female tiger was also relocated, helping the tiger population grow. Today, Sariska is home to approximately 48 tigers, attracting a significant number of tourists from Delhi and Haryana.

...and another decline to come?

“This decision to reduce the CTH area has been taken due to pressure from the mining lobby,” says Gaurav Gupta, secretary of Jungle Watch.

Marble and dolomite mines are located within 1 km of the CTH area, he points out. Resumption of mining this close will surely disrupt tiger movements.

The Wildlife Board has excluded 48.39 sq. km of the hilly terrain, labelling them as human-affected areas, yet tigers do traverse these regions, Gupta adds. “Removing the peripheral hills could fragment vital tiger corridors, threatening internal connectivity between the reserve’s two southern limbs.”

“Although the forest department has added 90.91 sq. km from the buffer zones as compensation, it’s merely a smokescreen to facilitate mining,” Gaurav Gupta says. “Union minister for forest, environment and climate change Bhupendra Yadav, who is also the MP from Alwar, has allegedly been influenced by the mining lobby to push for this decision.”

Severe disturbances to the natural habitat have in the past forced tigers to abandon the reserve area, deeming it uninhabitable.

The human predator

The Sariska forest did include human habitations in the past, but consistent efforts by the state government led to the relocation of many families from the villages within the reserve to make room for the sanctuary.

In and around the Sariska sanctuary, though, marble and dolomite mines continued to disturb the habitat of the tigers — prompting the Supreme Court in 2024 to order the closure of mining activities.

However, illegal mining has continued.

Just recently, it was discovered that mining operations were active in an area of 1,876 sq. m previously cleared by the National Board for Wildlife, within the protected boundaries of the Sariska Forest Reserve, posing a significant threat to the tiger population.

The divisional forest officer of Sariska found that the mined area was part of the protected reserve and submitted a report to the higher authorities, recommending the cancellation of the usurper’s mining licence.

“The Supreme Court, relying on a report from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), accepted its recommendations without verifying the flaws in the March 2024 report. The CEC had suggested practical boundaries to curb illegal mining. The apex court directed the state government to complete the rationalisation by redrawing the reserve’s area accordingly,” says Sudhir Gupta, a mine owner himself.

Sudhir laments that local organisations were not consulted prior to the rationalisation move and criticised forest officials in Jaipur for ignoring various local factors too.

“We proposed several measures to expand the CTH area in the interest of tiger conservation. But none of our suggestions were considered. A team of forest officials submitted a rationalisation plan that fails to serve the best interests of the tiger reserve,” says Sudhir.

The administration claims otherwise. “The proposal to rationalise the boundary of the CTH of Sariska Tiger Reserve was presented to the Wildlife Board and passed. The boundary shift is a rational solution aimed at balancing conservation goals with economic interests,” states Arijit Banerjee, head of the Forest Force in Rajasthan.

He adds, further, that the rationalisation proposal is subject to the approval of a standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife.

If approved, the plan would permanently reclassify the excluded land as part of the buffer zone, where restrictions on commercial activities are less stringent than in the core areas of the sanctuary.

If the boundary is redrawn as proposed, over 50 mines would fall outside what is now considered the no-mining zone. These include sites in the villages of Khoh, Palpur, Tilwad, Gordhanpura, Mallana, Doondpuri, Jaisinghpura and Kalwar.

That’s 50 sets of mining operations stopped by the Supreme Court and prior governments that will now be reactivated.

Mining activities here will result in numerous cumulative impacts on the environment, quite apparent from the noise and increased human presence the animals are likely to steer away from — there will be transportation impacts, mine spoil or overburden to dump and destruction of aquifers, to name a few.

The impact is not just going to affect tigers, or even wildlife alone, but also people. And the locals are closest to the harms.

The Congress party, which ruled the state before the BJP won it off them last year, has criticised both the Centre and the Rajasthan government over the plan to redraw Sariska’s boundaries.

The Opposition has pointed out that with both the Rajasthan and Union of India environment ministers hailing from Alwar, this “double engine” administration should not be backing such a move.

Tiger population in Sariska touches 30; Ramesh says remarkable success story started much before 2014