Rupesh Pethe and Ors vs State Of M.P. and Ors

Grievance in this application is against illegal sand mining in District Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh. While considering the grievance on an earlier date, the Tribunal observed that though particular grievance of the applicant was against respondent No. 2, Sarpanch of village Vikashkhand Babai, the material on record suggested that the regulatory regime under the Mineral Policy of 2017, did not meet the mandate of law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Deepak Kumar v. State of Haryana & Ors., (2012) 4 SCC 629 and by this Tribunal vide order dated 04.09.2018 in Original Application No. 186/2016, Satendra Pandey v. Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change & Anr. The mining lease has to be granted only after Environment Management Plan is reviewed by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) following the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 of the MoEF & CC of the year 2016. The matter was also dealt with in Original Application No. 360/2015, National Green Tribunal Bar Association v. Virender Singh (State of Gujarat) in the light of earlier proceedings on 05.04.2019.

On 26.07.2019, after further consideration, the Tribunal directed:-

"In view of the above, we direct the State of Madhya Pradesh to file an affidavit by the Principal Secretary, Mineral Resources, Madhya Pradesh explaining how mining leases are being allowed to be granted in violation of law. The State of Madhya Pradesh may ensure compliance of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Deepak Kumar (Supra) and of this Tribunal in Satendra Pandey (Supra) and permit mining only after Environment Management Plan is approved by the SEIAA. The Principal Secretary, Mineral Resources may furnish a factual and action taken report in the present case by email at [email protected]."

Accordingly, an affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Mining Department of State of Madhya Pradesh to the effect that the State has incorporated 2020 Guidelines issued by the MoEF & CC in its policy. Information has been given in the affidavit with reference to following:-

A. Identification of sand mining sources, its quantification, feasibility for mining considering various environmental (proximity of protected area, wetlands, creeks, forest etc.) and other factors such as important structures, place of archaeological importance, habitation, prohibited area etc..

B. Preparation of district survey report and its format for reporting to eradicated unplanned/clustered grant of mining lease.

C. Introduction of shorter interval of 25 x 25 m grid interval in mining plan prescribed by states.

D. Grant of letter of intent ('LOI') only at locations that have lesser possibility of impact on the environment and nearby habitation.

E. Strengthening the system of mining dispatch and its monitoring.

F. Regular replenishment studies to keep a balance of deposition and extraction of sand at river reaches.

G. Regular surveillance of sand mining reaches through unmanned artificial vehicles.

H. Enforcement of conditions stipulated in mining operations in accordance with approved mining plan and Environmental and other Statutory Clearances and Environmental Audit.

I. Monitoring Sale and Purchase of sand.

J. Regulation of sand mining in agricultural areas.

K. Monitoring Mechanism to prevent illegal mining transportation and storage of illegal minerals.

L. Guidelines for assessment of environmental damages on account of illegal sand mining to be prescribed by the state government.

M. Monitoring of mining near inter-district and inter-state boundary by establishment of a Task Force.

N. Grant of letter of intent to those mining leases which are falling in the potential mining zone.

O. Miscellaneous.

While the stand needs further consideration and while expecting further action on pending issues, we wish to observe that the constitution of committee for preparation of DSR must comprise of relevant experts accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Education and Training/ Quality Control Council of India in terms of O.M. of MoEF & CC dated 16.03.2010. Further, the District Magistrate may verify and get evaluation from the SEAC. The issue of proper preparation of DSR has been recently considered vide order dated 14.10.2020 in O.A. No. 40/2020, Pawan Kumar v. State of Bihar & Ors. and the Tribunal directed:-

"(ii) As the DEIAA is not functioning as a consequence of the decision of the Tribunal in Satendra Pandey (supra), the DSR shall be prepared through a consultant(s) accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Education and Training/ Quality Control Council of India in terms of O.M. of MoEF & CC dated 16.03.2010.

(iii) The DSR so prepared shall be submitted to the District Magistrate who shall verify the DSR only in respect of the relevant facts pertaining to the physical and geographical features of the district which shall be distinct from the scientific findings based on the parameters prescribed in the SSMMG- 2016. After such verification, the District Magistrate shall forward the DSR for examination and evaluation by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) having regarding to the fact that the SEIAA comprises of technical/scientific experts. The SEAC after appraisal of the report shall forward it to the SEIAA for consideration and approval if it meets all scientific/technical requirements.

(iv) While preparing the DSR, the MoEF & CC Accredited Agency/Consultant shall scrupulously follow the procedure and the parameters laid down under the SSMMG-2016 and EMGSM-2020 read in sync with each other."

The above direction may be followed by the State of MP also for the sake of uniformity. Further information required to be furnished is about the extent of illegal mining, extent of action taken, including the compensation recovered, vehicles seized and other coercive measures and impact of such action. The State of M.P. may compile relevant directions on the subject including the binding order of any Courts or Tribunal. This exercise may be undertaken jointly by the Secretary Geology and Mining, Member Secretary State PCB and Member Secretary SEIAA. In light of above, the State may further revise its policy and exercise. Let further compliance status be furnished before the next date by e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/ OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.

We are of the view that the above directions need to be followed by all other States where the issue of mining is relevant.

A copy of this order be forwarded to the Chief Secretaries of all the States and UTs by e-mail for compliance.

List for further consideration on 14.01.2021

M.A. No. 71/2020 is for exemption from filing of official translation which stands disposed of in view of above order.