SHIMLA: Taking exception to the imposition of a lenient fine for illegal mining, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) said this was encouraging sand mafia in Himachal Pradesh. It asked the state chief secretary to personally look into the entire issue of compensation and to ensure compliance of law.
During a hearing held on September 20 on an application about illegal mining in Una’s Swan river, a bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel (retd), further stated in its orders that the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board has been unable to show how "a hypothetical value of a mineral can be treated as its market value."
"Such an approach is resulting in violation of law laid down by the Supreme Court and the NGT and is also detrimental to the environment and the state revenue," stated the NGT order while disposing of the application.
In the last hearing in April, the NGT had questioned the PCB on how a fine of Rs 68,750 imposed on the owner of a stone crusher for operating without consent was calculated. The NGT had observed that "nobody knows the basis of such calculation" because "financial capacity of the violator, extent of violation, and cost of restoration are not mentioned."
The NGT in the same case had earlier stated, "If there has been illegal mining, the defaulting lease holder must bear the consequences and not get benefitted by pocketing 70% of the illegally mined ore and that 100% of the price of the illegally or unlawfully mined minerals must be compensated by the mining lease holder."
A report was filed by the PCB on the issue on August 20 but "without showing how to arrive at the market value of mineral for compensation in accordance with the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957."
The NGT had in March 2021 ordered formation of a committee, headed by Justice Jasbir Singh (retd), to file a report on the illegal mining in the Swan river and also suggest remedial action. The committee had found extensive unscientific and unregulated mining in Swan, amounting to "loot of resources" of the state to the extent of "more than Rs 100 crore."
The committee had concluded that the mining in Swan was "unscientific, unsustainable and in violation of environmental norms. There was extensive damage to the river bank, mining plan was not followed and mining areas were not demarcated."
Acting on the committee’s suggested remedial measures, the NGT had stated in an order in the same case last year that the compensation should be calculated based on ‘polluter pays principal’.
The application regarding rampant illegal mining in the Swan river was filed in the NGT by a resident of Una last year on March 2.
