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Illegal mining: The Supreme Court has said that the committee will include, among others, the Secretary of the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Forest Secretaries of the four states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat and one representative each from the FSI and CEC. , The committee will submit the report within two months. The next hearing will be in August, till then there will be a ban on mining.
Supreme Court bans new mining leases: The Supreme Court (SC) has taken a big decision to save the environment. The Supreme Court has said that the 'Aravalli' hills should be protected at all costs. For this, the court has imposed a complete ban on mining activities in the hilly areas of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat and has directed not to allow any kind of mining till further orders. The bench said its order would not in any way be construed as a stay on the legitimate mining activities which are already going on as per valid permits and licenses.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AS Oka said, 'We are passing this order for all the four states (through which the hill range passes).' This made it clear that the order was limited to mining only in the Aravalli hills and its ranges.
Court's strict stance on mining leases
The bench said, 'Until further orders, however, all states where the Aravalli mountain range is situated shall be free to consider and further process applications for the grant of mining leases and their renewal… but the FSI (Forest Survey of India ) No final permission will be given for mining in the Aravalli Hills as defined in the report.
The court said that a report submitted by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has pointed out various illegal mining activities carried out across the state of Rajasthan and also given district-wise details about the area under illegal mining.
They found that one of the major issues was related to the different definitions of the Aravalli hills and ranges adopted by different states. The bench ordered the formation of a committee to arrive at a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges.
The Supreme Court has also said that the committee will include, among others, the Secretary of the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Forest Secretaries of all these four states and one representative each from FSI and CEC. The bench said that the committee will submit its report within two months. The court will now hear further in this matter in August.