A site inspection of the Lavasa hill city conducted by the Pune district administration has revealed that 7,78,86, 600 cubic feet of mining has been conducted in two villages by Lavasa Corporation Limited (LCL). The comprehensive data regarding the remaining 17 villages is still being consolidated by the authorities, according to Pune Additional Collector R.K. Gaikwad.
This might result in LCL being made to pay a fine for ‘illegal mining.” “The nature of the permissions secured by LCL is not known to the district administration. The amount of the fine will be known in a week after the report is completed,” Mr. Gaikwad told The Hindu .
The report will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) which will then decide the nature of penalty.
The MoEF had directed the district administration to quantify the excavation done by LCL for the development of the 25,000-acre hill city. A 10-member team then conducted a two-week survey to investigate the environmental damage caused by the quarrying undertaken by LCL.
The report submitted to the MoEF by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in January had pointed out that “the haphazard way in which the hill cutting has taken place is expected to result in land slides, high erosion and consequent siltation of water bodies.”
The report also stated that the manner in which quarrying was being done needed to be reviewed for evolving a scientific way of undertaking such operations, particularly in ecologically-sensitive areas of Western Ghats, where the 25,000-acre hill city is located.
Claims permission
LCL however claimed that it has permission for quarrying.
