SC polishes mining ban order: Rajasthan can, Haryana can’t

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Passayat, said mining would be permitted in forest areas where specific prior permission had been obtained under the Forest Conservation act and Environment Protection Act by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

It further clarified that no mining would be permitted in areas notified as Sanctuary and National Parks. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), a body set up by the Supreme Court to look into all forest-related cases submitted another report today where it recommended that safeguards may be introduced instead of a blanket ban on all mines.

Their first monitoring report had talked of indiscriminate mining in Aravallis where chunks of one of the oldest mountain ranges in the country were being cut away leaving indelible scars.

Following this report, the court had ordered a blanket ban on October 29. The states had been reluctant to enforce the earlier order as it meant losing revenue to the the tune of Rs 700 crore (Rajasthan) and Rs 179 crore (Haryana) annually.

The Aravallis range is the largest source of sand, silica, limestone and marble in North India. Rajasthan alone has 2,000 mines. There was heavy political pressure as several political bigwigs are mine-owners, including two ministers in the Haryana government.

In fact, the Haryana government submitted an affidavit claiming that mining actually improves the water table as it helps in ground water recharge. This theory was refuted by experts.

Inspite of today’s respite, Haryana faces an uphill task compared to Rajasthan because it had delegated the power of clearances under the Environment Protection Act to the state government following a notification to this effect in 1999.

The court has today said that mines that got their leases after 1999 would not be allowed to operate for now. ‘‘As far as such approvals are concerned we direct for the time being that no mining will be permitted in the areas in Gurgaon district where mining was permitted because of the notification.’’

However for Rajasthan, the order will help in revoking the ban in many more mines. ‘‘Wherever the requisite approval and sanction had been obtained under the forest conservation act and environment protection act such mining activities could continue,’’ said the Bench.

For the Haryana cases, the CEC has been given six weeks to look into a comprehensive procedure and modalities including setting up of an effective monitoring mechanism.

Another fallout of today’s order is that mining will not be permitted in areas up to 5 km from the Delhi-Haryana border in Haryana Ridge and Aravalli Hills and the 5-km radius of Badhkal Lake and Suraj Kund.

Reason: mining in these areas was banned by earlier orders and today’s modification does not over-ride them. This was in a case filed by the Delhi Ridge Board where they had alleged that the mining in the area was playing havoc with the groundwater level in the region.

The court expressed concern about small quarries of areas below 5 hectares that do not adhere to safety norms and do not implement any rehabilitation plan.

For this purpose, a comprehensive study would be undertaken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to look into the impact of mining and other activities on the status of watersheds, flora and fauna, status of water table and mineral conservation.

‘‘The study would suggest a proper rehabilitation plan to be implemented in a time-bound manner for the areas which have been already been destroyed by years of reckless mining in this eco-fragile region,’’ said the report submitted by the CEC.