Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding illegal mining in the area of Lidhorahat Ghat Badtua, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, 19/10/2020
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Atul Agarwal Vs State of Madhya Pradesh & Others dated 19/10/2020.
The matter related to illegal mining in the area of Lidhorahat Ghat Badtua in district Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. The bench of Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and Expert Member Satyawan Singh Garbyal of the NGT directed that there must be an institutional framework and enforcement mechanism to prevent illegal and excess quarrying. Further, the state should ensure that mining takes place without any adverse impact on the environment.
The NGT said that the Environmental Clearance issued for mining of sand should contain some mandatory conditions like:
i) The licensee must use minimum number of poclains and it should not be more than two in the project site
ii) The District Administration should assess the site for environmental impact at the end of first year to permit the continuation of the operation
iii) The nnual replenishment report certified by the authorised agency must be submitted to the prescribed authority. In case, the replenishment is low, the mining activity/production levels should accordingly be decreased/stopped
iv) The ultimate working depth shall be 1 m from the present natural river bed level and the thickness of the sand available shall be more than 3 m in the proposed quarry site
v) The sand quarrying must not be carried out below the ground water table under any circumstances. In case, the ground water table occurs within the permitted depth at 1 meter, quarrying operation should be stopped immediately
vi) The sand mining should not disturb in any way the turbidity, velocity and flow pattern of the river water
vii) The mining activity should be monitored by the taluk level force once in a month by conducting physical verification
viii) After closure of the mining, the licensee must immediately remove all the sheds put up in the quarry and all the equipments used for operation of sand quarry. The roads/pathways has to be levelled to let the river resume its normal course without any artificial obstruction to the extent possible
ix) The mined out pits should be backfilled where warranted and area has to be suitably landscaped to prevent environmental degradation.