Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

26. We are of the considered view that it is highly necessary to have an effective framework of mining plan which will take care of all environmental issues and also evolve a long-term rational and sustainable use of natural resource base and also the bio-assessment protocol. Sand mining, it may be noted, may have an adverse effect on biodiversity as loss of habitat caused by sand mining will affect various species, flora and fauna and it may also destabilise the soil structure of river banks and often leaves isolated islands. We find that, taking note of those technical, scientific and environmental matters, MoEF, Government of India, issued various recommendations in March 2010 followed by the Model Rules, 2010 framed by the Ministry of Mines which have to be given effect to, inculcating the spirit of Article 48-A and Article 51-A(g) read with Article 21 of the Constitution.
15.5. In M.Palanisamy v. The State of Tamil Nadu reported in 2012 (4) CTC 1 (Mad), the Honourable First Bench of this Court has observed as under:
?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.

41. Therefore, in larger interest, for the welfare of the people of the State, to protect the environment, river beds, river bodies and the field of agriculture on which thousands of farmers are thriving, this Court finds it appropriate to issue the following directions to the respondents, as follows:

(a) The State shall stop all sand mining/quarrying activities in the State of the Tamil Nadu within six months from today and shall not open any new sand quarries/mines in future;