Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has closed a Public Interest Litigation, seeking among others effective steps for curtailing, restricting and arresting illegal mining in Jammu and Kashmir.
The PIL, filed in 2016 by an NGO ‘Peoples Forum’ had also sought “enforcement of Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957, Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 and the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988”, saying that the statutory requirement of registered and qualified managers was not being complied with by the authorities.
“After having considered the submissions made at the Bar and also having gone through the pleadings on the file, we are of the firm opinion that the issues raised in the writ petition by the petitioner with regard to implementation of the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957, Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 and the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988, are being taken due care by the respondents (authorities) and in view thereof the issues raised by the petitioner does not survive any more,” said a Division Bench of Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Puneet Gupta, “Therefore, no further proceedings are required to be conducted in the present Public Interest Litigation, which is accordingly closed.”
However, the Court left it free for the NGO to agitate the issues, if any in future, before the concerned authorities.
While closing the PIL, the Division Bench referred to a report filed by the Under Secretary to the Government Industries and Commerce Department in compliance with the Court’s directions in July 2019, in which it has been stated that the issues raised in the PIL have been examined in light of the various Acts and the Rules governing the mining activities in the Jammu and Kashmir.
In the compliance report, the court said, the government submitted that the Department has posted District Mineral Officers in every District who are responsible to monitor and ensure that mining activities in their respective districts are “strictly” being carried out in accordance with the Acts and the Rules. It stated that sensitization and awareness programmes among the mine owners and workers are being regularly carried out by the Department. The Government has also constituted “Multi Departmental District Level Task Force Cell” under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner concerned, the compliance report reads. Immediate actions are being taken by the department against the violators by issuing notices besides directing suspension of the mining operations, it said.
“In this regard, it is submitted that while taking cognizance of the unsafe and dangerous mining practices, mining activities in the three quarry/ mining belts of Athwajan and Panthachowk areas of the Srinagar District have been banned.”
In order to monitor the major mineral mines throughout the Country, the government said, the Indian Bureau of Mines GOI, in the year 1917, launched Geo-spatial satellite based Mine Surveillance System and the Department of Geology and Mining has uploaded all the geo-referenced details of Limestone Mining leases on the MSS and IBM and are regularly monitoring the mining activities of major minerals in the Union Territory.
The report also stated that with regard to environmental degradation and adverse impact on ecology, landscape and habitation because of mining activity, State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has been constituted under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and the compliance of the Environmental Acts and Rules is monitored by the Authority and the Department of Environment/ State Pollution Control Board.
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