The Ministry of Environment and Forest has rejected infrastructure giant IVRCL Ltd's two sand mining projects in Uttar Pradesh due to improper documentation of mining area and environmental issues.
IVRCL proposed to undertake sand/Moram mining at two places in Sonebhadra District on river bed of the river Son, a major river in central India.
"Based on the information furnished and presentation made before the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for mining project, the committee recommended the rejection of proposal ...," the EAC said in its order.
Citing the reasons it said, proponents were not able to produce correct map showing the location of Wildlife Sanctuary from the Project site. They were asked to get authentic copy of map showing location of Wildlife Sanctuary.
"Proponent did not submit the letter from the Chief Wildlife Warden saying that the project site is not located within 1 km radius of the Wildlife Sanctuary," it added.
List of other ecologically sensitive areas in the vicinity of the project and exact distance from the project site, authenticated by Chief Wildlife Warden was not produced, the order added.
When contacted a spokesperson of IVRCL said as the area was remapped, their mining area must have come under forest area.
"We respect environmental laws and go accordingly. If it is environmentally sensitive area, then we will not undertake mining there," the spokesperson told PTI.
The combined mining capacity of the two projects has been targeted at 650 cubic meters per day to be extracted and transported to clients directly from the site.
The Son river is an important right bank tributary of the Ganges.
The mining projects are located within 10 km from the boundary of Protected Areas notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary is an Ecologically Sensitive Zone which lies within 10 km radius of the proposed mining area. Therefore, the proposal falls under category, the EAC said.
