Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding illegal sand mining, village Chipaner and Chouraskhedi, district Sehore, Madhya Pradesh, 04/04/2022
Order of the National Green Tribunal (Central Zone Bench, Bhopal) in the matter of Geeta @ Laxmi Meena Vs State of Madhya Pradesh & Others dated 04/04/2022. Issue raised in this application is illegal sand mining being carried out in the village Chipaner and Chouraskhedi, tehsil Nasrullganj, district Sehore by means of tractors, dumpers & trollies alongside the river Narmada during night hours, mining through means of pandubbies and causing damage to the environment.
A joint committee constituted by the NGT order visited the villages Chhipaner and Chouraskhedi, tehsil Nasrullaganj, district Sehore, October 27, 2021. During inspection no illegal sand mining and illegal transportation of sand was observed by the committee - also no visible impact on the course of the Narmada river has been observed by the committee near village Chhipaner & Chouraskhedi.
As per the records of District Mining office, in the last two years, 92 cases of illegal transportation were registered in the villages of Chhipaner, Choraskhedi and Ranipur and a sum of Rs. 3689000 was collected as a penalty.
The case again came up before the NGT, December 21, 2021 and the CPCB was directed to submit the mechanism to control illegal sand mining in consultation with the representative of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board.
The CPCB report stated that by adopting the provisions of provisions of Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines (SSMM, 2016l, Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2O2O and the above control mechanism the illegal sand mining may be checked effectively and effective action may be initiated for minimizing illegal mining.
In view of the recommendations, the NGT directed Madhya Pradesh and the SPCB to submit further action taken report in the light of the recommendations of the CPCB and the committee within four weeks.