NEW DELHI, April 15: Dissatisfied with reports of district officials on illegal mining activities of the stone mafia in Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court today appointed an independent commission to survey the devastated area and submit a report to the court in six weeks.Passing the order on a Public Interest Litigation on deforestation, a three-judge bench comprising Dr Justice A S Anand, Justice B N Kirpal and Justice V N Khare directed the Chief Secretary of the state to nominate a police official not below the rank of Inspector General of police, to conduct the survey along with the director of the Indira Gandhi Forest Academy at Dehradun."The independent commission may seek assistance from the counsel assisting the Amicus Curiae, Harish Salve, and while the survey is being conducted, Salve may also make available photographs and videos or any other material showing the extent of destruction of the ecology and environment as well as large-scale devastation wrought by the stonemafia", the judges said in their order.The judges said the state shall defray the expenses incurred by the commission including the fee by way of honorarium to the director of the forest academy.The court ordered that all material seized from the mafia pursuant to the intervention of the court by the district magistrate shall stand attached. Any seizures made in future either by the magistrate or the independent commission shall also stand attached.Earlier, expressing dissatisfaction with the reports and affidavits filed by district officials, including the magistrate, regarding the seizures and action taken against the mafia, the judges said only a "distorted picture had emerged"."It is a fact that illegal mining have been going on in the area for some time. The damage done to the hills and forests which had been stripped of forest was considerable. But from affidavits filed by government officials no clear picture emerges", the judges said.There was no indication that the officials had seizedany equipment used for cutting the rocks into slabs. "Has the district magistrate indicated any unit which has such machines. These are diamond edged machines and should be located somewhere. Nothing seems to have been said about them", the judges observed.The SC directed the Madhya Pradesh government to file detailed reports and affidavits as to which were the border areas through which the illegally mined stone had been transported from the state of UP to other parts of the country.
