‘No temporary permits for forest mining’

Alarmed by the rampant misuse of its direction on the grant of Temporary Working Permits (TWPs) for mining projects in forest areas, pending...

Alarmed by the rampant misuse of its direction on the grant of Temporary Working Permits (TWPs) for mining projects in forest areas, pending final clearance from the Centre, the Supreme Court has ordered discontinuance of the practice till further orders.

‘‘We again reiterate that without compliance of the environmental laws, in particular the permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, no Temporary Working Permit or any other permission by whatever name shall be granted for mining activities in national parks, sanctuaries and other forest area,’’ said a bench, headed by Justice Y.K. Sabharwal.

The court was hearing pleas filed by senior counsel Harish Salve, alleging its orders were being misused and working permits granted to some parties were being extended. In December 1996, the SC had clamped down on mining in forest areas, making Central approval mandatory for carrying out non-forest activity, including mining.

The affidavit filed by Anurag Bajpai, Assistant I-G of Forests, showed that 21 TWPs were granted between 2003 and 2004 for mining in national parks, sanctuaries and forests. This included three in Andhra, four in Karnataka, 10 in Orissa and one each in Chhattisgarh, Himachal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.

Ananthakrishnan G

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

Rahul Gandhi, Jairam ramesh, Sagarika Ghose, Trump Russian oil policy, India stop buying Russian oil, US tariffs on Indian imports, Modi Trump relations, China energy tariff strategy, US-India energy policy, Moscow energy revenue cut, US imposes tariffs India Russian oil, Prime Minister Modi oil imports, US-India trade tensions

PM Modi thanks Trump for Diwali wishes; trade, Ukraine war discussed, says US president

India2 hr ago

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke on the telephone on Wednesday, both leaders confirmed, marking their third call in a month. While Modi thanked Trump for his Diwali greetings, the US president reiterated his earlier claim that the Indian PM had assured him that India would not buy much oil from Russia and that he, too, wished for the Russia-Ukraine war to end.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS