Jaipur: In a powerful display of grassroots resistance, women from 18 villages in Neem Ka Thana tehsil of Sikar district have been leading a sustained, rotational protest against illegal soapstone mining that endangers the Girjan river—a crucial rain-fed lifeline supported by traditional anicuts in each village.Clad in vibrant attire and traditional ghoonghats, women like Monu Mina of Bhagwanpura village have been at the forefront of this year-long movement. Participating regularly in the fortnightly protests organised by Prakriti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, Monu speaks passionately about the mining’s devastating impact on agriculture and water resources—threatening the survival of their communities. “For the past two years, the women of Bhagwanpura protested relentlessly against the mining mafia. They are diverting our precious water, drying up the anicut we painstakingly built, and leaving our fields barren. This river is our lifeline. If this continues, we will have no choice but to migrate, just like many villagers from neighbouring areas,” said Monu Mina, her voice filled with urgency.This movement, predominantly led and sustained by women, has become one of the longest-running public struggles in the region. These women organised themselves with coordination, forming WhatsApp groups to manage protest schedules and prepare rosters that assign different villages to lead demonstrations every 15 days. To uplift spirits and strengthen solidarity, they composed local songs and choreographed traditional dance steps, turning protests into powerful cultural expressions of resistance.“At the end of every month, we convene a meeting in one of the villages to assess the damage and plan our next steps,” said Sukma Bai from Loharwas village. “We witness firsthand how unchecked soapstone mining is drastically altering the river’s natural course and drastically reducing its water volume,” she added.The Girjan river, winding through the Baneshwar hills before feeding into the Buchra Dam, is a critical source of drinking and irrigation water for these 18 villages. However, this lifeline stands on the precipice of collapse. Of the four rivers that once nurtured the region, three already dried up, victims of rampant illegal mining and gross neglect.Villagers raise an alarm as mining mafias are extracting trolley-loads of soapstone daily, decimating the green cover and plunging agricultural productivity to dangerous lows. Kailash Mina, a local environmentalist, said, “Illegal mining here reached catastrophic levels, with over 120 pits dug deep into the water table. Continuous 24-hour extraction across more than 60 hectares led to dried-up wells, borewells, and ponds. The environmental damage is already irreversible.”TOI called up Neem-Ka-Thana constituency MLA Suresh Modi and DM Mukul Sharma for their comments but received no response.
Women lead sustained stir against illegal mining in Neem ka Thana | Jaipur News
