DT
PT
Subscribe To Print Edition About The Tribune Code Of Ethics Download App Advertise with us Classifieds
search-icon-img
search-icon-img
Advertisement

Furnish details on illegal sand mining, SC tells five states

Terming rampant illegal sand mining as “serious”, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the governments of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to provide facts and figures on the issue. While hearing a 2018 PIL seeking a...
  • fb
  • twitter
  • whatsapp
  • whatsapp
Advertisement

Terming rampant illegal sand mining as “serious”, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the governments of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to provide facts and figures on the issue.

Advertisement

While hearing a 2018 PIL seeking a CBI probe into illegal sand mining in rivers and beaches in these states, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said such activities needed to be effectively dealt with.

Petitioner M Alagarsamy alleged that unregulated illegal sand mining wreaked “environmental havoc” as the authorities concerned allowed entities to operate without the mandatory environmental plan and clearance.

Advertisement

The Bench said it needed to check if a similar petition against the National Green Tribunal order on illegal sand mining was pending in the top court.

It sought to know if the environmental impact assessment was needed for sand mining and if the answer was in the affirmative, what were the pre-requisites. It asked the advocates representing the five states to come prepared with facts and figures and posted the matter for further hearing in the week commencing January 27, 2025.

Advertisement

On behalf of the petitioner, advocate Prashant Bhushan alleged instead of taking action, the states indulged in cover-ups. Senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari submitted on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government that the state was taking effective steps to deal with the problem.

On January 24, 2019, the SC had issued notices and directed the Centre, the CBI and five states to respond to the PIL which alleged that “Due to the lack of implementation of guidelines by the states, various sand mining scams have taken place across different parts of the country”.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
tlbr_img1 Home tlbr_img2 Classifieds tlbr_img3 Premium tlbr_img4 Videos tlbr_img5 E-Paper