(Feature Image: Feb. 2024 screengrab of a video clip shows instream mechanized sand mining going on in Yamuna river during night hours at Mandawar village in Kairana tehsil of Shamli, UP)
A joint committee formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Delhi has found gross violations of several rules in a sand mining project on Yamuna river in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh. The joint committee was formed by principal bench on NGT comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and Justice Dr. A. Senthil Vel on May 13, 2024, to ascertain the correct factual position through ground visit while hearing a petition filed by local resident Farukh Chouhan.
The committee included representative of Member Secretary (MS), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), representative of MS, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), representative of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) with District Magistrate (DM), Shamli being the nodal agency.
As per petitioner Farukh Chauhan, a resident of Mandawar village in Kairana tehsil, the miner PC Gupta & Company has been carrying out sand mining on 20.34 ha Yamuna floodplain area adjoining Mandawar village in complete violation of Environmental Clearance (EC).
The plea also mentioned that the miner has carried out in-stream mining using heavy machines beyond permissible depth and lease area even during night hours without any replenishment study and compliance report thus violating various orders of NGT and provisions of Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 and Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020.
The NGT orders & MoEF&CC rules have prohibited instream mining, use of heavy machines, mining during night hours and have mandated replenishment study after every two years.
Hearing the plea on May 13, 2024, the NGT found that the petition raises substantial issue relating to compliance of environmental norms. The tribunal issued notices to concerned departments and asked joint committee to visit the area and file a factual report.
It is learnt that the joint committee visited the area on 05.07.2024 and submitted the report on 06.08.2024. The case was heard on 14.08.2024 and the order uploaded on NGT website on 21.08.2024.
As per the order, the joint committee inspection has found several violations of Consent to Operate (CTO) rules granted by UPPCB and EC conditions including mining exceeding 3 meter depth on 30 bigha land outside the lease area, lack of adequate plantation around mine site, extraction of groundwater without No Objection Certificate (NOC) from State Groundwater Authority (SGWA).
The order further reveals that the Project Proponent (PP) has not submitted six monthly compliance reports in time and carried out no hydro-geological study thus violating the EC conditions. Similarly, the PP has not carried out detailed replenishment study through consultant authenticated by a Quality Council of India-National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (QCI-NABET) as mandated under the EC condition.
The joint committee found one pillar outside mine lease area in the mid-stream of river and all other pillars were removed due to onset of monsoon season. The joint committee asked the DM, Shamli to take necessary action against revenue department officials and ensure installation of pillar within lease area. Since it was monsoon time, the committee found no instream and other mining activity being done.
Most surprisingly, the committee observed that the PP has obtained EC by providing incorrect information as another miner Shiva Buildtech Pvt Ltd was granted mine lease over 5 ha land within 500 meter distance from the P.C. Gupta & Company mine, indicating that it’s a case of cluster mining. As per EC condition number 38, this can lead to revocation of the EC.
While concluding the matter, the NGT neither stopped sand mining nor decided on the revocation of EC, however it approved prayer of PP seeking three-week time to implead the Shiva Buildtech as respondent in the matter. The matter is now listed for 27.11.2024.
Interestingly, the miner submitted EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) report in October 2019 and secured EC in March 2021 to carry out mining for five years, while the DSR (District Survey Report) was valid for a period of four years between August 2018 to March 2022. However, the miner kept on mining operation all through April 2022 and till June 2024 without a review or updation of DSR. In the two hearings so far, the NGT has not addressed this violation.
Bhim Singh Rawat (bhim.sandrp@gmail.com)
Also See:-
Rampant Unsustainable Riverbed Mining in Yamuna Basin
Yamuna facing illegal, in-stream mining during lockdown
Yamuna Riverbed Mining: Miners, Govts throw rule book in river
SANDRP 