Alleging that sand is being mined in the State in utter violation of environmental laws, Magsaysay Award winner and ‘Waterman of India’ Rajendra Singh has cautioned the Andhra Pradesh government, saying that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) might impose a much bigger fine.
In an open letter to the State government on Friday, Mr. Singh observed that the NGT was ‘very liberal’ in asking Andhra Pradesh to collect just ₹100 crore as a penalty from sand miners for ‘mining sand worth ₹10,000 crore in violation of environment laws’.
“The penalty should be more than ₹500 crore. Andhra Pradesh government would be better off if it paid the ₹100 crore deposit and recovered the same from miners excavating sand illegally,” he said.
Mr Singh said that he was highly disappointed that the media and people in general were not ‘observant’ at the very important order issued by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Supreme Court order
“The Supreme Court refused a stay to the NGT order asking the A.P. government to make a deposit of ₹ 100 crore within a month and collect the same as penalty from sand miners. It clearly shows that environmental laws were undermined,” Mr. Singh observed.
Justice Chandrachud, he said, was rightly concerned about the ‘free sand mining policy’ that did not need environmental clearance and any restriction on the amount of sand that could be mined.
The Judge asked the State to approach the NGT and make an appeal before it on the issue of sand mining. The Supreme Court Bench only deferred payment of the ₹100 crore giving time to Andhra Pradesh government to put forward its arguments.
A dig at Naidu
“It is very unfortunate that the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is living in a building built on the Krishna flood plains illegally. Mr. Naidu is talking about green cities, but on the other hand, he is abetting the destruction of floodplains by encouraging illegal sand mining,” he said.
The environmentalist further exhorted the people of Andhra Pradesh to protect the river and sand.
“The groundwater will vanish once the rivers go dry,” Mr. Singh warned.
