Karoonjhar has 26 billion tonnes of granite resources, according to Sindh Assembly.

KARACHI: In response to written and oral questions from lawmakers, Minister of Mines and Mineral Development Shabbir Bijarani stated that a feasibility study of granite deposits in Tharparkar district had been conducted, and the results indicated that there were 26 billion tonnes of granite in Karoonjhar and Nagarparkar, with 10.06 billion tonnes being readily available/identified in mapped reserves.

Furthermore, the mine and mineral development department is also in charge of estimating the province’s mineral reserves, which includes determining the underlying granite reserves in the Karoonjahr Range.

He replied that Tharparkar was rich in mineral reserves in response to a spoken question. But there is currently a prohibition on granite mining because of the locals’ opposition and protest. He said that Karoonjhar featured ancient temples, the birthplace of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, and other historical sites, all of which made mining there illegal.

He added that the locals did not want any harm done to their old history because “there are trees and valuable fauna also” there.

He said that there was granite on 437 acres in response to a query posed by Firdous Shamim Naqvi of PTI. He claimed that Tharparkar and Karoonjhar were home to creatures including deer, nilgai, rabbits, peacocks, and others.

He stated that “the provincial administration has set stringent limitations on hunting for the purpose of breeding wildlife,” and that since the ban, the animals had been reproducing and their generation had grown.