The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed that it will be mandatory to obtain consent to establish or consent to operate from the concerned State Pollution Control Boards for river sand mining and that no river sand mining will be allowed to continue in the country without obtaining these consents with effect from September 1 this year. The tribunal on May 30 directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to issue guidelines within two months to ensure that the requirement of obtaining these consents is made uniformly applicable to all river bed sand mining projects across the country. The NGT was hearing a matter in which the applicant had raised the issue of illegal sand mining in the Ganga in Kanpur and Unnao along with a bridge allegedly constructed in the river by those carrying out the mining, resulting in the river being divided into two streams. The tribunal had constituted a joint committee which submitted a report last year stating that the company had not complied with the conditions of environmental clearance that had been granted for mining. The NGT’s recent order noted that “serious environmental violations” were noticed and the project proponent had not obtained consent to establish or consent to operate from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB). The UPPCB had then issued a show cause notice for the imposition of environmental compensation of Rs 4,29,37,500 to the project proponent. The order noted: “It is now universally acknowledged that excavation of minor mineral may disturb or change the underlying soil characteristics of the river bed/catchment/basin; may disturb the velocity and flow pattern (discharge) of the river water and may also adversely affect river morphology/ecology, the groundwater regime and habitat of wild fauna in the river bed significantly.” In the case that the court was considering, the project proponent was found to have carried out mining in the river without the requisite consents for five years. The tribunal has also pointed to contradictory practices in the state of Uttar Pradesh regarding the enforcement of the regime of environmental norms, including that of obtaining consent from the UPPCB. “On the one hand UPPCB is claiming that there is no mandatory requirement of CTE/CTO from UPPCB for river bed sand mining and on the other hand UPPCB is issuing show cause notices and passing orders for imposition of environmental compensation for not obtaining CTE/CTO from UPPCB,” the order stated. In addition to the violation of environmental norms by the project proponent, the NGT has raised the matter of “serious dereliction of duty” by officers in the Department of Geology and Mining in Uttar Pradesh, and the UPPCB. “Illegal mining has to be dealt with sternly by visiting the same with all consequences without any leniency,” the order noted. “Even though the serious violations revealed by the affidavits filed in the present case warrant an order for prosecution of the concerned officers, but instead of having recourse to said remedy we consider it appropriate to impress and direct upon the concerned officers to take requisite action for protection and improvement of the environment,” the order added.
