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Judgment
Application is registered based on a letter petition received by post
The grievances in the original application are regarding illegal mining in District Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh and District Yamuna Nagar, Haryana.
Vide order dated 04.08.2023, this Tribunal constituted a Joint Committees under the chairmanship of Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) with Member Secretaries, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and District Magistrates, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana and Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh as Members to verify the factual position and another Joint Committee under the Chairmanship of Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) with (i) A Scientist not below the rank of Scientist G to be nominated by Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC); (ii) Senior Scientist to be nominated by Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); (iii) One Professor each from NIT, Kurukshetra and IIT, Roorkee to be nominated by the Directors thereof; and (iv) One Scientist from Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad to be nominated by Director thereof as Members to carry out the requisite studies as mentioned therein and submit their reports.
I.A No. 734/2023 has been filed by MoEF & CC with the prayer to relook into the matter and entrust the task to an institution/statutory body having an expertise in dealing with the matters related to the subject matter of the original application on the ground that the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution ) Act 1981 and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 lay down the legal framework for constitution of CPCB and define its role and responsibilities whereas the institutional and legal framework for conservation of river, its management and development as a natural water resource and related role and responsibilities lies in the domain of Ministry of Jal Shakti and its statutory bodies including NMCG.
We have heard learned Counsel for the MoEF & CC and learned Counsel for CPCB and State of Haryana and HSPCB and gone through the relevant record.
As mentioned above this Tribunal had vide order dated 04.08.2023 constituted two committees with specified composition and terms of reference. The matter of sand mining from river bed and all other connected matters including replenishment of sand, impact of sand mining on riverine ecology etc., are within the domain of the MoEF & CC which has issued 2006 notification and framed Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016 and Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020 covering various aspects thereof. The Ministry of Jal Shakti and its statutory bodies including NMCG are not involved in the process of grant of environmental clearance and various other aspects of sand mining from river bed which are primarily the concern of MoEF & CC and its statutory bodies including SEIAA, CPCB, SPCBs and SPCCs. In these facts and circumstances of the case, we do not consider inclusion of the representative of Ministry of Jal Shakti and its statutory bodies including NMCG to be mandatorily essential for carrying out the requisite studies.
In any case this Tribunal in para 10 of order dated 04.08.2023 specifically mentioned that the Chairman in consultation with the Members of the Committee may include any other Member/ Expert/Institution for undertaking/assisting specific study which empowers the Chairman of the Committee to include NMCG or any other institution as may be considered appropriate in the Committee for undertaking/assisting specific study.
Consequently no modification of order dated 04.08.2023 is required and I.A No. 734/2023 is disposed of accordingly.