Regulate extraction of minerals from water bodies, High Court tells J&K

The Union Territory asked to set up an expert committee to assess any environmental degradation.

A Division Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to regulate extraction of minor minerals from water bodies and set up an expert committee to assess any environmental degradation.

“The Chief Secretary of the Union Territory shall appoint a committee of experts on the lines of directions given by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal Bar Association to assess the components and scales of compensation and recommend measures of reparation for acts and omissions, which have resulted in environmental degradation,” the Bench comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and judge Sanjay Dhar observed.

The court also directed immediate steps “to appoint professional and qualified persons or agencies for technically and scientifically evaluating and fixing the reserved prices of minerals in Jammu and Kashmir.”

“The recommendations of the experts so appointed be implemented in public interest,” the judges held.

Auction notices

The Bench was hearing a plea that expressed concerns on auction notices “being issued without a study of the environmental impact.”

“We find that it is without conducting any study on the possible environmental impact on in the riverbeds and elsewhere the auction notices have been issued. We are of the considered view that when we are faced with a situation where extraction of alluvial material within or near a riverbed has an impact on the river’s physical habitat characteristics, like river stability, flood risk, environmental degradation, loss of habitat, decline in biodiversity,” the petition reads.

The plea argued that it is not an answer to say that the extraction is in blocks of less than five hectares and separated by 1 km. “Their collective impact may be significant, hence the necessity of a proper environmental assessment plan,” it added.

It pointed out that the States and Union Territories should see that the mining of minor minerals is permitted only under a strict regulatory regime and is carried out only under an approved framework of a mining plan, which should provide for reclamation as well as rehabilitation of people in the mined areas.

“Sand mining may have an adverse effect on biodiversity as loss of habitat caused by it will affect various species, flora and fauna and it may also destabilise the soil structure of river banks and often leaves isolated islands,” the petition added.