National Green Tribunal
Aman Choudhary vs Union Of India on 12 January, 2024
ItemNo.10 (Court No. 2)
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI.
(Through Physical Hearing with Hybrid VC Option)
Original Application No.176/2022
I.A No. 39/2023, I.A No. 40/2023
Aman Chaudhary ...Applicant
Versus
Union of India & Ors. ...Respondents
Date of hearing: 12.01.2024
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER.
HON'BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER.
Applicant: None for the applicant.
Respondents: Mr.Raj Panjwani Sr. Advocate (Amicus Curiae).
Mr. Animesh Rajoria Proxy Counsel for Mr. Somesh
Chandra Jha Advocate for Respondent No. 1 MoEF.
Ms. Pallavi Pratap and Ms. Kinjal Aggarwal Advocates
Advocates for Respondent No. 2.
Mr. Pradeep Mishra and Mr. Daleep Dhyani Advocates for
UPPCB (Through VC).
Mr. Saurabh Balwani Advocate for CPCB (through VC).
Application under Sections 14, 15 and 18 (1) of the National Green
Tribunal Act, 2010.
ORDER
1. In compliance of order dated 12.12.2023 report has been filed by UPPCB vide email dated 10.01.2024. The relevant part of the report reads as under:-
"Affidavit of the Member Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board in compliance to the order dated 12.12.2023 passed by the Hon'ble National Green O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.
-2-
Tribunal
X X X X
Additional Status Report in respect of remaining defaulter 436 mining Leases-
3. That in compliance of the Hon'ble NGT earlier order dated 30.05.2023 and 17.10.2023 in aforesaid case the status of Mining Leases and action against defaulter units etc has been submitted to Hon'ble Tribunal vide UPPCB letter no. H01920/C- 6/Gen-766/OA No 176/2023 Dated 14.10.2023 and Letter No. H03798/C-6/Gen-766/OA No. 176/2023 dated 08.12.2023.
4. That as per the above submitted consolidated status of mining lease in Uttar Pradesh, there were 1232 mining leases established, out of which 445 Mining Leases had obtained Consent to Operate (CTO) under the section-25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and under section-21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and remaining 787 Mining Leases had not obtained CTO.
5. That in compliance of the Hon'ble NGT order dated 17.10.2023, show cause notices dated 20.10.2023 under section 31 A of The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 were issued by UPPCB against the defaulter 787 Mining Leases of Uttar Pradesh for not obtaining prior consent to operate under The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
6. That as of now, the detail of 787 Mining Leases is given below:
i. 202 Mining Leases have obtained Consent to Operate (CTO) under the section-25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and under section-21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. The list of the 202 Mining Leases is being annexed herewith as Annexure-1 to this affidavit.
ii. The Consent to Operate applications of 63 Mining Leases are under process for disposal. The list of the 63 Mining Leases is being annexed herewith as Annexure 2 to this affidavit. iii. UPPCB vide different letters dated 09.01.2024 & 10.01.2024 have issued Closure order under section 31 A of The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to 281 Mining Leases. The copy of the said closure orders are being annexed herewith as Annexure 3 to this affidavit. iv. Director, Geology & Mining, UP vide it's letter dated 26.12.2023 has provided the list of 210 Mining Leases which are not functional due to expiry/cancel of lease permit and other 31 Mining Leases, which are not functional in verification of UPPCB, so UPPCB vide different letters dated 09.01.2024 & 10.01.2024 have issued direction to the all such 241 Mining Leases for remain close and operate after prior CTO under the section-25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and under section-21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. The copy of Director, Geology & Mining, UP letter dated 26.12.2023 and the copy of letters/directions dated 09.01.2024 and 10.01.2024 issued by UPPCB are being annexed herewith as Annexure 4 & 5 to this affidavit."
O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.
-3-2. Report has been filed by CPPCB vide email dated 09.01.2024. The relevant part of the repost reads as under:-
"Compliance Report on Behalf of Respondent No. 3, Central Pollution Control Board in the matter of Hon'ble NGT, O.A. No. 176/2022, titled as Aman Chaudhary v/s Union of India and Ors.
X X X X
2. Classification of river sand mining projects by CPCB In compliance of the Hon'ble NGT order, CPCB has classified 'Sand/riverbed material mining from the riverbed and its floodplains (excluding manual excavation)' in red and orange categories. The details of the classification (categorisation) of the said sector are as follows:
Table No. 1: Classification (categorisation) of Sand/riverbed material mining from riverbed and its floodplains (excluding manual excavation) SI. No. (as Non-industrial Categor Remarks per CPCB operations y Document) 63 Sand / riverbed material (i) Sand / riverbed material mining from riverbed and mining from riverbed and its its floodplains (excluding floodplains may cause manual excavation) ecological disturbances, erosion of riverbed, change in hydro-geological conditions & river ecosystem, etc.
(i) Mining lease area more Red ii. Cluster mining means that than 5 hectares the distance of mining lease area is less than 500 m from periphery of another lease area.
Or iii. This categorization is made Mining lease area up to 5 considering the ecological hectares which is part of and not based on pollution cluster mining potential/index.
(ii) Standalone mining Orange lease area up to five hectares in areas (not a part of any cluster mining) Note: Cluster mining as defined in 'Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020', issued by MoEF&CC.
CPCB vide letter no. CPCB/IPC-VI/ROGW, dated 22.09.2023 directed all State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.
-4-Control Committees (PCCs) to adapt and implement the above classification. A copy of the CPCB letter no. CPCB/IPC- VI/ROGW dated 22.09.2023 is attached as Annexure-II.
3. Follow-up by CPCB for adoption and implementation of classification of river sand mining projects The Hon'ble NGT, in the matter of OA No. 176/2022, vide order dated 17.10.2023 directed the following:
"...CPCB to compile information on the basis of action taken reports received from the SPCBs/PCCs in response to its letter dated 22.09.2023 and file compiled status report..."
A copy of Hon'ble NGT order dated 17.10.2023 is given at Annexure-III.
To expedite the submission of the Action Taken Reports (ATRs) for the adoption and implementation of the classification of river sand mining, CPCB reminded SPCBs/PCCs vide emails/letters dated 27.10.2023, 08.11.2023, 28.11.2023 and 05.12.2023. A copy of CPCB correspondences is given at Annexure-IV (A to D).
The last hearing in the matter of OA No. 176/2022 was made by Hon'ble NGT on 12.12.2023, wherein Hon'ble NGT directed the following:
"CPCB is directed to compile information on the basis of action taken reports received from the SPCBs/PCCs in response to its letter dated 22.09.2023 and file compiled status report on or before 10.01.2023 by e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Supported PDF and not in the form of Image PDF."
In compliance of the Hon'ble NGT order dated 12.12.2023, CPCB once again vide letter/email dated 28.12.2023 and 02.01.2024 requested the remaining SPCBs/PCCs to submit the Action Taken Reports regarding adoption and implementation of classification of sand mining projects. Copy of CPCB email/letter dated 28.12.2023 and 02.01.2024 is given at Annexure-V (A and B).
4. Status of adoption and implementation of classification of sand mining projects by SPCBs/PCCs So far, CPCB has received responses from 24 SPCBs/PCCs, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal. All these SPCBs/PCCs have adopted classification (categorisation) of 'Sand/riverbed material mining from riverbed and its floodplains (excluding manual excavation)'. PCC Lakshadweep has however informed that there is no river in the UT. The summary of responses/action taken reports is given in the following table:
Table No. 2: Summary of Action Taken Reports (ATR) received from SPCBs/PCCs O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.-5-
Sl. State/UT Reference no. Remarks
No.
1 Andhra Letter no. APPCB- Adopted and
Pradesh 11022/548/2023-TEC- implemented the
CFO- APPCB, dt. classification
17.11.2023
2 Assam Letter no. PCBA/LGL- Adopted and
196/2023/NGT/16/2162, dt. implemented the
07.12.2023 classification
3 Bihar Letter no. 2865, Patna, dt. Adopted and
30.11.2023 implemented the
classification
4 Chandigarh Letter no. CPCC/2023/3900, dt. Adopted and
06.12.2023 implemented the
classification
5 Chhattisgarh Letter no. 6667/ तक/ Adopted and
मु/छ/ग/प/स/म/2023/ नवा implemented the
classification
रायपु र अटल नगर, रायपुर,
24.11.2023
6 Gujarat Letter no. GPCB/P-1/14(7)/759146, Adopted and
dt. 22.11.2023 implemented the
classification
7 Himachal Letter no. HPSPCB/CPCB Adopted and
Pradesh miscellaneous/2023-12409, dt. implemented the
06.12.2023 classification
8 Jammu & Letter no. Adopted and
JKPCC/T/CPCB/RBM/2023/8 implemented the
Kashmir 28-31, dt. 03.11.2023 classification
9 Kerala Letter no. KSPCB/159/2022-SEE3, Adopted and
dt. 06.11.2023 implemented the
classification
10 Maharashtra Letter no. MPCB/JD(WPC)/B- Adopted and
231130-FTS-0006, dt 30.11.2023 implemented the
classification
11 Mizoram Letter no. H. Adopted and
88088/Poltn/2/2023-MPCB, dt. implemented the
10.11.2023 classification
12 Nagaland Letter no. NPCB/IND-CON- Adopted and
2/5027-28, dt. 02.11.2023 implemented the
classification
13 Puducherry Letter Adopted and
no.4507/DSTE/PPCC/SCI/SAN implemented the
D/CIRC/2023 dt. 08.11.2023 classification
14 Punjab Letter no. SEE (HQ-2)/2023/28179, Adopted and
dt. 09.11.2023 implemented the
classification
O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.
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15 Uttar Letter no. 03265/C-2/general- Adopted and
Pradesh 348/23, dt. 24.11.2023 implemented the
classification
16 Uttarakhand Letter no. UKPCB/HO/Gen- Adopted and
257(11)/2023/927, Dt. implemented the
14.10.2023 classification
17 Tripura Letter no. F.18(28)/TSPCB/7086-88, Adopted and
dt. 15.11.2023 implemented the
classification
18 Lakshadwee Letter no.LD-03001/1/2023-LPCC, Adopted and
p dt. 07.12.2023 implemented the
classification, state
board has informed
that there is no river
in the state so issue
of sand/riverbed
mining is not arised
19 Meghalaya Letter no. MSPCB/LEGAL- Adopted and
638/2023/2023-24/2, dt. implemented the
20.11.2023 classification
20 Arunachal Letter no. ASSPCB- Adopted and
Pradesh 93/2017/RCI/8191-90, dt. implemented the
04.01.2024 classification
21 Karnataka Letter no. PCB/17/COC/2023- Adopted and
24/4922, dt.13.12.2023 implemented the
classification
22 Rajasthan F14(Policy- Adopted and
2023)/RPCB/Project/299 implemented the
2-2999, dt.29.12.2023 classification
23 Telangana Letter Adopted and
no.2/TSPCB/categorization implemented the
/HO/2023,dt. 11.12.2023 classification
24 West Bengal Letter no. WBPCB- Adopted and
16015(99)/5/2022SEC(WBPCB)- implemented the
WBPCB,dt.07.12.2023 classification
25 Andaman ATR awaited
Nicobar
Daman &
26 ATR awaited
Diu
27 Delhi ATR awaited
28 Goa ATR awaited
29 Haryana ATR awaited
30 Jharkhand ATR awaited
31 Madhya ATR awaited
Pradesh
32 Manipur ATR awaited
33 Odisha ATR awaited
34 Sikkim ATR awaited
35 Tamil Nadu ATR awaited
However, the Action Taken Reports are still awaited from 11 SPCBs/PCCs, namely, Andaman & Nicobar, Daman Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.-7-
Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, and Tamil Nadu."
3. The CPCB is directed to obtain the information regarding adoption and implementation of the classification and compile the information and file additional report within two months by e-mail at judicial-
[email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Supported PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
4. Request for adjournment has been made on behalf of Mr. Mukesh Verma, Learned Counsel for Respondent no. 6-Director of Geology and Mining on the ground of personal difficulty which request is allowed.
5. Report by way of his affidavit be filed by the Director Geology and Mining Department, Uttar Pradesh mentioning all requisite details regarding present status of Action Taken against respondent no. 2 for illegal mining, violation of environmental norms, and recovery of environmental compensation. Affidavit as mentioned above be filed within two months by e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Supported PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
6. List for further consideration on 21.03.2024.
7. In view of the facts and circumstance of the case, we also consider personal appearance of the officers duly authorized by Director, Directorate of Geology and Mining, Uttar Pradesh and Member Secretary, UPPCB physically or through VC on the next date of hearing to be essential for producing the relevant record and assisting this Tribunal in just and proper adjudication of the questions involved in the case. Accordingly they are directed to remain present before this Tribunal on that date with the relevant record.
8. A copy of this order be sent to the Director, Directorate of Geology and Mining, Uttar Pradesh and Member Secretary, UPPCB by email for requisite O. A. No. 176/2022 Aman Chaudhary Vs. Union of India & Ors.
-8-compliance.
Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM Dr. Afroz Ahmad, EM January 12th, 2024