As per our ancient scriptures [granths] Braj is a manifestation of Lord Sri Radha Krishna and each and every particle of Braj is deemed worthy of great reverence. These verses from the Skand Puran delineate the holiness and significance of Braj.

Vrajstu tat sahyen shandilyasyapyanugrahaat|
Govind, gop, gopina lilasthannaynukramaat||
Govind haridevadi swarooparopen cha|
Krishnek bhaktim swe rajye tataan ch mumohdeh||
[ Skand Puran 2|4|56]

"From every respect Brajmandal is most sacred land. Lord Krishna, bare foot, has grazed cattle on this land. The entire Braj mandal is divine form of Lord Govind which is source of immense devotion and spiritualism". The glory and ecstasy of Braj lies in its range of scared hills, which are personified as incarnated form of various deities which willingly wanted to have place in Braj, in its dense green groves, divine forests and Kunds where lord krishna with His companions has performed various transcendental 'leelas'.

For last hundreds of years, sacred Braj has been neglected and the lush green vista of Braj has been destructed by legal as well as illegal mining and various unsocial and environmental hazardous activities. Hills of Braj have been completely denuded and many of them have been brutally destroyed by disastrous mining operations.

Click here to view images of the destroyed Hills

The biggest damage is being caused by illegal mining in the entire hilly region of Braj. Local mining mafia is blasting them off totally ignoring hundreds of invaluable marks of pastime of Shri Radha and Shri Krishna spread across these hills. The mining has caused multilateral damage in the region and is becoming cause for other issues. Greenary has disappeared thereby forcing the local villagers to abundon animal husbandary which is vastly supported by the vegitation on these hills. TB and other diseases are on the rise because of the dust particle in the air which are spread by the mining.  Deforestration on these hills have consistantly failing to attract rain year after year.

With the efforts of local volunteers and dedicated saadhus of Shri Maan Mandir Seva Sansthan, Zeenews performed an investigation of the problem and decided to prepare an exclusive report on illegal mining of divine hills of Braj. The report was telecasted live world wide a couple of years back, which gathered a high level of attention from the local politions and media. You can also watch this report below.

Zee News Exclusive Report on Illegal Mining of Braj Hills