New Delhi, June 4 -- The Supreme Court has directed the Rajasthan government to take immediate steps to ban mining in the core area of the Ranthambore tiger reserve and has constituted a three-member committee to make recommendations for regulating entry of devotees and vehicles visiting an ancient temple lying within the critical tiger habitat. Passing directions on an application highlighting threat to tiger habitat and its population due to illegal mining, unauthorised construction and a huge footfall of devotees to the temple, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai said: "In order to protect the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, we deem it appropriate to direct the state of Rajasthan to take steps to ban mining in the core area of the Tiger Reserve." Going by the contents of the application filed by lawyer-activist Sanjay Kumar, that were endorsed by the expert panel of Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the court constituted a three-member committee having collector Sawai Madhopur, field director of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and a member of the CEC to suggest a way out for regulating devotees to the Trinetra Ganesha Temple, located five kilometre inside the Ranthambore national park, that can balance the protection of tigers and needs of the devotees. The bench in its order passed on May 30, uploaded on Tuesday, noted that a similar problem that arose at Sariska Tiger Reserve was dealt by an order of the top court in December 2024 by forming a committee that suggested entry of private vehicles to be restricted at three entry points to Sariska reserve. It further directed Electric shuttle buses to ferry pilgrims to and from the temple, which is currently operational. The bench, also comprising justices AG Masih and AS Chandurkar, said: "Taking into consideration the similarity of the situation (at Sariska), it will be appropriate that a committee of the following Members is appointed which can address the concerns with regard to the issue in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and recommend solutions in a phased manner-- (i) the Collector, Sawai Madhopur; (ii) the Field Director, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve; and (iii) a member of the CEC." The court directed the committee to take into consideration the interest of the devotees of the Trinetra Ganesha temple while addressing the issue pertaining to the maintenance and conservation of tiger reserve and "give suggestions which would balance the interest of the tiger reserve as well as the devotees". Like the exercise conducted at Sariska where the Pandupole Hanuman Mandir was located inside the tiger reserve, the court directed the committee constituted for Ranthambore reserve to give a hearing to the representatives of various stakeholders including the representatives of the trust which manages the Trinetra Ganesha Temple. The application filed by Kumar and argued by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal submitted massive congestion of vehicles and pilgrims inside the Ranthambore reserve exposing high-density tiger zones to intrusive human presence. Last month, a criminal case was lodged against a devotee for touching tiger cubs in the wild at Ranthambore while in April, a seven-year-old was killed by a tiger. On Wednesday alone, the number of pilgrims exceeds 10,000, and on Sundays, the figure touches nearly 6,000 with a regular weekday witnessing a footfall of around 2,500 visitors in a day, the application said. Further, a six-kilometre road that serves as the primary approach route to the temple, falling within the core area, witnesses an alarming number of over 7,500 cars, taxis, motorcycles illegally parked. "This influx of such large crowds results in multiple direct and indirect harms to the fragile ecosystem," the court said, as it noted serious infractions with pilgrims stopping inside the reserve to cook food using firewood extracted illegally from the tiger reserve and disposal of large quantities of plastic waste. Bansal, in his arguments on the application, highlighted the issue of illegal mining activities on approximately 150 hectares of land situated adjacent to Uliyana village within the critical tiger habitat (CTH) of Ranthambore tiger reserve. The mining operations involve usage of heavy machinery and repeated movement of dumpers and tractor trolleys, severely affecting the movement and behaviour of wild animals, particularly large carnivores such as tigers and leopards, which violates the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The application questioned the role of state officials in allowing such activities when the Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) prohibits any mining, construction or vehicular movement by private citizens inside the CTH. The court directed the Rajasthan government to submit a status report in six weeks on the action taken to stop all mining activities inside the core area of the reserve. It said, "The ban on mining in the core area of tiger reserve shall scrupulously be followed without permitting any interference from any of the stakeholders. The state of Rajasthan shall, accordingly, file an affidavit within a period of 6 weeks from today stating as to what steps it has taken for prohibiting mining in the core area of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve." Senior advocate K Parmeshwar assisting the court as amicus curiae (friend of court) raised concern over the issue of illegal mining as the CEC received videos of a state minister threatening forest officials telling them that you can enter only with our permission. "The situation is very grave as there is heavy vehicular movement inside the forest. The CEC has received confirmation about illegal mining taking place inside the core area of the reserve," Parmeshwar said during the hearing last week....