Subscribe
The Supreme Court (SC) on January 20, 2025, said it was deliberating setting stricter norms for granting construction permissions, including a requirement that no new apartment buildings should be approved without specified parking facilities. The SC also inquired about government plans to make electric vehicles more affordable.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan sought responses from various central ministries, including the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Union Ministry of Heavy Industries, Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
State-level urban planning and development authorities, such as the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and New Delhi Municipal Council, were also asked to respond.
The authorities were directed to provide timelines for compliance before the next hearing on February 3, 2025. The case concerned rising vehicular pollution in the National Capital Region and emphasised the need for an effective public transport system.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on January 22, 2025, directed the state pollution control boards of Haryana and Rajasthan to submit their responses regarding the operation of illegal scrap kilns in the Aravalli region.
Other authorities instructed to file their responses include MoEFCC offices in Jaipur and Chandigarh. The responses are to be submitted at least one week before the next hearing on May 5, 2025.
The case, initiated suo motu based on a news report titled Toxic Kilns Polluting Aravallis; Wildlife and Locals Suffer” published in the newspaper The Tribune on December 28, 2024, highlighted severe environmental concerns in the Tauru region along the Haryana-Rajasthan border. The report detailed the proliferation of over a dozen unauthorised portable kilns burning vehicle scrap, particularly rubber tyres, to produce flattened sheets used as fuel by brick kiln operators.
These kilns are reportedly polluting the soil and water, leading to livestock deaths and a decline in public health, the article stated. Allegations suggested that authorities in Haryana and Rajasthan continue to shift blame without addressing the issue, enabling the illegal activities to persist unchecked.
The Central Pollution Control Board and the state pollution control boards of Haryana and Rajasthan were instructed by the NGT on January 22, 2025, to submit their responses regarding illegal mining in the Aravalli hills. Other respondents include MoEFCC offices in Jaipur and Chandigarh, as well as the district magistrates of Bharatpur and Nuh.
The case pertained to illegal mining and blasting of a hillock in the protected Aravalli range along the Haryana-Rajasthan border, causing its complete collapse within hours. The incident, reportedly in Rava village, Nuh, led to disputes between Haryana mining authorities and Rajasthan, with the former claiming it occurred in the neighbouring state.
The instance was reported in the article, Mining mafia brings down another Aravalli hill, in The Tribune on December 21, 2024. The article, which prompted the case, alleged that the mining mafia often carries out blasts in areas of Rajasthan where mining is legal, then extends their operations into Haryana’s protected hills.
A 2023 study by Rajasthan revealed that 8 per cent of the Aravalli hills disappeared between 1975 and 2019, with projections indicating a 22 per cent loss by 2059 if unchecked urbanisation and illegal mining persist. Over 80 million metric tonnes of mining material have vanished from hills in villages like Naharika, Chittora and Rava in Nuh.
This is the fourth incident in under a year where the mining mafia has blasted a hillock in the protected Aravallis. Reports indicate that roads are being built through forests for dumpers, hills are blasted every weekend, and illegal mining continues across nearly 30 villages along the Haryana-Rajasthan border without any action being taken.