Uttarakhand High Court seeks immediate steps to stop mechanized mining from rivers in the state

The Uttarakhand High Court issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking a direction to the State authorities to take immediate and effective steps to stop mechanized mining, in any form, in the rivers/ water bodies in the State of Uttarakhand, except for flood management, during rains. The petitioner is concerned about the rampant unscientific and unregulated mechanized river bed mining being done in the rivers of the State of Uttarakhand and seeks stoppage of the same.

It is pointed out by the petitioner that the royalty payable by the respondent, which is a State agency and is legally doing manual mining on the river beds in the State, is much higher than the royalty paid by private lessees, thereby making the mining carried out by Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (respondent no.4) financially unviable. He submits that respondent no.4 is being discriminated against, as the royalty payable by respondent no.4, is higher than the royalty payable by the private lessees, who are indulging in illegal mining in contravention of the relevant rules and norms.   

Dushyant Mainali, counsel for the petitioner, has referred to the decision taken by the Forest Advisory Committee of the Central Government which has permitted mining on the river beds, by only permitting manual means, i.e. by using hand tools in the State of Uttarakhand strictly, and without adoption of mechanical means and machinery.
Though respondent no.4 appears to be complying with the said direction, according to the petitioner, the private lessees are violating the said directions unabashedly.   

In the light of the aforesaid, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe restrained all the lessees who are operating their respective mining lease in the State of Uttarakhand in river beds and other water bodies, from undertaking mining activities by resort to using of mechanical means. 

Therefore the High Court directed the District Magistrates in all the districts, who are the Chairpersons of the Mining Task Force, to ensure that all mechanical equipment used for mining in the river beds are removed forthwith from the site of the mining, and he shall keep strict vigil to ensure compliance of this direction.     

Further, the Court directed that the respondents should file their respective counter-affidavits, specifically disclosing the rationale for charging higher royalty from respondent no.4, when compared with the royalty charged from the private lessees. 

Matter is listed on 12.01.2023 for further hearing.

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