Gujarat HC issues notice to govt on illegal sand mining

The Gujarat High Court today issued a notice to the state government on a public interest litigation seeking action against illegal sand mining in rivers.
A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi issued notices to the government, Commissioner of Geology and Mining and Collectors of Surat and Navsari districts on the petition filed by Ajay Jangid.
The court sought details of authorised leases given to mining agents and steps taken for stopping illegal mining of sand in riverbeds in Surat, Navsari and elsewhere.
The petitioner, citing photographs and information collected through RTI, said illegal mining was being carried out in Tapi river near Surat, Purna and Ambica rivers in Navsari, Sabarmati in Ahmedabad and Mahi in Vadodara.

It was being done in places where leases had not been granted, the PIL said.
This resulted in degradation of riverbed, damage to environment, and posed a serious threat to biodiversity apart from affecting the safety of bridges across the rivers, it said.

Despite an HC order of December 27, 2012, district area committees had not been formed to monitor mining activities except in Surat. Even in Surat, these committees did not meet regularly, the PIL said.
Action was taken only against sand transporters but not the "real culprits" who carry out illegal mining, it alleged.
The sand mafia blocked the water for mining and this was seen in most of the 62 rivers in Gujarat, it said.