HC orders notice to officials on appeal against NGT order

Madras High Court bench here has ordered notice to the Union Environment Ministry and Tamil Nadu Government on an appeal against an order of National Green Tribunal's southern bench allowing sand quarrying in river Kollidam at a village in Tiruchirappalli District.
Admitting the appeal by Kollidam River Protection and Welfare Association, Justice V.Ramasubramanian and Justice V M Velumani ordered notice to Union Environment and Forests Secretary and Member Secretary of Tamil Nadu Environment Impact Assessment Authority (EIA) among others.
Petitioner, represented by association President R Subramanian, challenged the recent NGT's order allowing state PWD's Executive Engineer (EE), River Conservancy Division, to continue quarrying in river Kollidam at Koohur village in Lalgudi Taluk.

The Petitioner sought to stay the tribunal's order and also quash the February 24, 2014 order of the Member Secretary (EIA) and direct the Executive Engineer to stop quarrying in Kollidam river.
He submitted that the tribunal had approved the order of the Tamil Nadu Member Secretary (EIA) giving "illegal" clearance to the EE without jurisdiction.
The tribunal also did not consider the submission that the extraction of sand was more than the permitted limit, he contended.
He contended that the Member Secretary had acted without authority and usurped the power and granted clearance. The tribunal itself had accepted that no guidelines had been issued for quarrying.