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6. In order to find out the legislative background of the impugned legislation by the State Government, we would like to refer an order passed by a Division Bench of this Court on 26.07.2002 directing the State Government to constitute a High Level Committee consisting of Geologists, Environmentalists, and Scientists to study the pattern of rivers and riverbeds in the State of Tamil Nadu with reference to the impact of the sand quarrying. The Division Bench noticed that the rivers are being plundered by a powerful mafia controlling the sand mining business. The illegal trade is driven by the unholy nexus between contractors, politicians, trade union leaders, panchayat and Revenue officials and corrupt policemen, making a mockery of the regulations imposed by the Government. In compliance with the directions of the High Court, a six member High Level Committee was constituted by the Government vide its G.O. Ms. No.(2D) 46, Industries Department, dated 25.09.2002. The High Level Committee so appointed submitted its report pointing out that illicit, indiscriminate and haphazard sand mining has led to deepening of the riverbeds, widening of the rivers, damage to civil structures, depletion of ground water table, degradation of ground water quality, damages to the river system and reduction of bio-diversity. On the basis of the recommendations of the High Level Committee, the Government of Tamil Nadu inserted Rule 38-A to the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959. Rule 38-A as introduced in the said Rules of 1959 reads as under :-

2. In compliance with the direction of the Honble Court, the Government in the order first read above, constituted a six member High Level Committee. The Committee, after extensive study of the river systems in the State, submitted its report to the Government. The Committee, in its report, expressed the view that illicit and haphazard sand mining has led to deepening of the river beds, widening of the rivers, damage to civil structures, depletion of ground water table, degradation of ground water quality, sea water intrusion in costal areas, damages to the river systems and reduction of bio-diversity. The Committee reported that the existing system of sand quarrying failed to protect the environment and the river system. The Committee observed that even though several rules on sand mining exist, illicit quarrying of sand is out of control as the authority for regulating sand mining is vested with different organizations such as State Geology and Mining Department, Revenue Department and Public Works Department and, hence, implementation and monitoring of rules and regulations regarding sand quarrying are not effective. The Committee, therefore, recommended that this important task of sand mining should be entrusted to a Single Agency.

21. In order to appreciate the issue involved in these writ petitions, we may have to look at the larger picture  the impact of indiscriminate, uninterrupted sand quarrying on the already brittle ecological set up of ours. According to expert reports, for thousands of years, sand and gravel have been used in the construction of roads and buildings. Today, demand for sand and gravel continues to increase. Mining operators, instead of working in conjunction with cognizant resource agencies to ensure that sand mining is conducted in a responsible manner, are engaged in full-time profiteering. Excessive in-stream sand-and-gravel mining from river beds and like resources causes the degradation of rivers. In-stream mining lowers the stream bottom, which leads to bank erosion. Depletion of sand in the stream-bed and along coastal areas causes the deepening of rivers and estuaries and enlargement of river mouths and coastal inlets. It also leads to saline-water intrusion from the nearby sea. The effect of mining is compounded by the effect of sea level rise. Any volume of sand exported from stream-beds and coastal areas is a loss to the system. Excessive in-stream sand mining is a threat to bridges, river banks and nearby structures. Sand mining also affects the adjoining groundwater system and the uses that local people make of the river. Further, according to researches, in-stream sand mining results in the destruction of aquatic and riparian habitat through wholesale changes in the channel morphology. The ill effects include bed degradation, bed coarsening, lowered water tables near the stream-bed, and channel instability. These physical impacts cause degradation of riparian and aquatic biota and may lead to the undermining of bridges and other structures. Continued extraction of sand from river beds may also cause the entire stream-bed to degrade to the depth of excavation.

25. It may sound disheartening, but the bitter truth is that such scenarios are evident in almost every State of the Indian territory, irrespective of its climactic and ecological background. Experts, activists and many a politicians realized the environmental problems posed by unchecked sand mining, which resulted in bringing about various legislations to curb mining. But despite legal barriers on exploitative sand mining, institutional framework and enforcement mechanisms are insufficient and mining does persist, unabated. In the southern States, especially in Tamil Nadu, the Government and the media vigorously attack illegal miners. According to the Chennai India Times, a state-run inspection revealed a complex, organized, and efficient network, enacting mining in the States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This network operates so far outside the legal boundaries that in the last ten years, there have been numerous reports of the blatant murders of Revenue officials. This type of organized, indiscriminate mining could sound the death-knell not just for Revenue officials, but also for the ecological system, the natural habitat and livelihood of many inhabitants. In the State of Karnataka, upright Government Officers who had come down heavily on sand mining had been shunted out.