Stop only what is illegal

Sand is vitally needed for economic activity

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India, which represents a large number of the country's builders, has declared that it will move the courts against the ruling of the National Green Tribunal completely banning the mining or removal of sand from river beds without environmental clearance from the ministry of environment and forests. This is understandable, since the severe shortage of sand that might result from this order would cripple construction activity. In a situation in which the government is already agonising over a sharp fall in economic growth - largely as a result of the slowdown in the industrial sector - a severe brake on construction can also affect the performance of the services sector. It is this component of gross domestic product that has till now been instrumental in facilitating at least five per cent growth.

However, the National Green Tribunal, in taking this big step, has arguably done nothing new. It has merely followed in the footsteps of India's Supreme Court. In February last year, the Supreme Court, while addressing a special leave petition, asked all state governments to give effect to the recommendations of the environment ministry in its March 2010 report as well as the model guidelines framed by the ministry on the mining of minor minerals within a period of six months. The Supreme Court had also ordered that the issuing of leases for the mining of minor minerals, including their removal from an area of less than five hectares, be done by state governments only after getting an environmental clearance. The environment ministry's latest report on river bed sand mining in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Budh Nagar - where civil servant Durga Shakti Nagpal was recently at the centre of a related controversy - reveals the court's order is being widely ignored. Not only are leases not being issued correctly, but illegal mining - where the issue of a lease being granted the right way does not arise - continues to be rampant.

The economic life of the nation cannot be crippled. Nor should environmentally damaging activity be allowed to continue. It is imperative to frame clear and implementable guidelines for sand mining, and then put them into effect. But even then, the Union environment minister has made it clear that her ministry does not have the wherewithal to implement any such law. The law and order machinery lies in the hands of the state governments, and it is they who have to stop illegal mining - such activity not only plays havoc with the water table but also deprives the state of a good deal of revenue. If the Centre is relatively helpless, then all the courts can do is summon a state chief secretary, district magistrate and superintendent of police and firmly instruct them to enforce the rule of law. What can happen thereafter in the present context is anybody's guess.