Chandigarh, Feb. 3 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has rapped state authorities and directed the chief secretary, Haryana to to examine "extent of environmental plundering" and fix accountability in violation of mining norms in Aravallis falling in Charkhi Dadri area.

.unfortunate aspect noticed by us is the callousness on part of the state authorities in the discharge of their duties which has led to such an unfortunate situation. At this stage, we cannot rule out connivance on the part of the responsible officers who were entrusted with the duty to ensure compliance of laws," the bench of justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor observed while hearing a petition from villagers in Charkhi Dadri.

Initially, the petitio...