Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
The Supreme Court (SC) of India on February 27, 2024 directed that mining activities should be prohibited in areas notified as eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) and, in any case, within a radius of a kilometre from protected forests.
“Wherever the ESZ area provides for a distance of more than one kilometre, the restriction of mining shall also apply to such a larger area,” the order said. The SC was hearing a matter related to mining and stone crushers operating within the ESZ of Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand.
An April 26, 2023 order of the SC held that ESZ cannot be the same for all the protected forests and that it will vary from case to case and has to be specific to the particular protected forest, the court pointed out.
However, “irrespective of an area to be notified as ESZ, the mining activities will be prohibited within the radius of one kilometre from the boundaries of the protected forest,” the SC clarified in the 2023 order.
The SC on February 27, 2024 directed NB Minerals Corporation Ltd not to carry out mining of magnesite and dolomite in Didihat, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand.
The SC permitted NB Minerals Corporation to construct a retaining or safety wall using machines like earthmoving and construction equipment vehicles and excavators. The safety wall will be constructed under the supervision and guidance of the additional district magistrate, Didihat.
Photographs prior to the commencement of the construction and post-construction should be placed on record, the order said. Apart from the construction of the safety wall, the apex court made it clear that no other construction could be undertaken by the company.
The SC appointed a three-member committee to ascertain the actual factual position and the effect of the mining activities undertaken from 2010-2011 until the closure order.
The committee would also examine the reparative work undertaken and opine whether mining activity should be permitted and what conditions should be imposed.
The committee has been directed to submit its report within six weeks.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on February 29, 2024 took up the matter of deforestation, ill-planned construction activities and illegal mining behind the natural calamities affecting the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh.
The application was based on a news article that appeared in newspaper The Hindu on November 25, 2023.
The tribunal, through its December 20, 2023 order, had taken note of the submission of the advocate general that units indulging in illegal mining have also been identified and their operations have been suspended.
The NGT, therefore, raised the issue of imposing environmental clearance against identified violators using the polluter-pays principle and recovering the costs as effective steps for preventing illegal deforestation and mining.
Replies have been filed on behalf of the department of town and country planning, state of Himachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board (HPPCB). Counsel for the state sought two weeks’ time to go through all the replies and produce a consolidated report before the court.
HPPCB also sought time to disclose the details of the violators against whom EC has been imposed. Thus, the NGT taking into consideration the submissions, adjourned the matter for May 9, 2024.
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