New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has upheld a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order barring riverbed mining in the Shali Ganga stream in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, dismissing appeals filed by a private company, NKC Projects Pvt Ltd, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Jammu and Kashmir government.
The dispute dates back to 2022 when environmental activist Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat petitioned the NGT, objecting to the use of heavy machinery for extraction of boulders and riverbed material from the stream in Panzan area. The tribunal initially stayed the operations and later, in September 2022, issued a judgment prohibiting the mining activity altogether. The company challenged the order before the Supreme Court, which on Friday dismissed the appeal.
A bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasihma and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar strongly criticised the Jammu and Kashmir State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (JKSEIAA) and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for failing to adhere to established guidelines while granting environmental clearance. The court observed that the EAC had committed a “serious error” by proceeding with the District Survey Report despite acknowledging that it was not prepared in line with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s 2016 and 2020 sand mining guidelines, particularly due to the absence of replenishment data.
“It is unfortunate that J&K EIAA compromised with regulatory integrity by granting the environment clearances on the basis of a DSR without a replenishment report. This is how regulatory failure occurs,” the judgment noted, while rejecting the recommendation to allow restricted mining depth and production limits in such circumstances. [KNT]
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