A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday reserved its judgment on a batch of writ petitions challenging indiscriminate quarrying operations being allowed in the State without environmental clearance.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A.M. Shaffique reserved its verdict after conclusion of the arguments by the State government and counsel for the petitioners.
When the writ petitions came up for hearing, counsel for the State government submitted that construction activities had come to a standstill due to a strike by quarry owners.
The government submitted that as per the provisions of the newly framed Kerala Minor Mineral Concessions Rules 2015, environmental clearance was mandatory for getting permit for mining and quarrying.
