High court bans mining on Nandhaur riverbed
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court has prohibited mining of sand and stones the Nandhaur river flowing through the eco-sensitive zone of the Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary in Kumaon.
The high court order said, “We, hereby, permit dredging of river Nandhaur, but we prohibit the removal of any riverbed material (RBM) from the river for any purpose, whatsoever. The same may be kept on the banks of the river, or in the nearby forest.”
The order was issued by the double bench of acting chief justice SK Mishra and Justice RC Khulbe while hearing the petition filed by Nainital-based Dinesh Kumar Chandola. The order was issued on April 27 but its copy was made available on Friday.
The PIL pointed out that the permission given by the state government for mining of river in the name of river dredging of Upper Nandhaur river flouts all the applicable laws, regulations and is in blatant violation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal. “Thereby ecology of natural resources of this eco-sensitive zone of the protected area of Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary is being endangered.”
The PIL stated that the state government through an order in January this year permitted the removal of river bed material from upper Nandhaur river in Chorgaliya region, which falls in the eco-sensitive zone of Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary and has permitted excavation and transportation of the river bed material for crushing in stone crushers for the purpose of utilisation for construction of the national highway. “This permission was given on January 7; however at present, the survey is being conducted and the excavation/ mining work in the name of dredging of the river will start in the coming month and will continue for 6 months thereafter. This permission is not only in blatant violation of applicable laws and directions of Supreme Court but also it will devastate the river in this eco-sensitive zone which houses aquatic creatures and falls in wildlife movement area.”
The petitioner argued that National Green Tribunal had ruled that “no mining can be permitted in eco-sensitive areas of the state and has observed that mining in an ecosensitive area is harmful for the ecology of the eco-sensitive zone and has expressed its concerned regarding environmental degradation being done in Uttarakhand”.
The PIL pointed out that “mining of rivers which includes carrying away/transporting the river bed material is being done in the state of Uttarakhand in different manners and nomenclatures, such as – chugan (picking up), mining lease, river training, river dredging or channelisation of rivers, the common methodology of all is same that river bed material – sand, stones, boulders, are lifted from the river beds and are transported for processing in stone crushers”
The petition added that Centre in 2011 had issued guidelines for declaration of eco-sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and declared commercial mining as a prohibited activity in the eco-sensitive areas.
THE PIL POINTED OUT THAT THE PERMISSION GIVEN BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT FOR MINING OF RIVER IN THE NAME OF RIVER DREDGING OF UPPER NANDHAUR RIVER FLOUTS ALL THE APPLICABLE LAWS