Residents demand closure of mining sites
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Dec 26: Senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF), Central Pollution Control Board and J&K Pollution Control Committee visited Sail and Kangripora villages in Budgam’s Beerwah area today to assess the damage caused by illegal riverbed mining in the Sukhnag river.
The locals spoke to the team, which was constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the matter of Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat v/s UT of J&K (OA No-1211/2024).
The team, which flew in from New Delhi and Chandigarh, was tasked to conduct on the ground assessment of the damage caused to the Sukhnag river by the construction company, NKC Projects Pvt Ltd.
According to the petition filed with the NGT, NKC Projects has been involved in large-scale excavation of boulders, bajri, and other riverbed materials in the area for the last three years without obtaining any environmental clearance.
A large number of locals came out and urged the visiting team to order the cessation of illegal riverbed mining in the Sukhnag river.
The team assured the locals that justice would be served as per the law and that a factual report would be submitted to the NGT before the next hearing date, Jan 14, 2025.
During the visit, the locals informed the team that their agricultural fields had dried up, and springs had been impacted due to deep mining.
They also reported that water was being contaminated by the mining activities and that there was significant dust pollution from the movement of dumpers and tippers carrying riverbed material.
On October 4, 2024, the NGT’s Principal Bench, consisting of Justice Prakash Srivastava (Chairperson), Justice A.K. Tyagi (Judicial Member), and Dr. Senthil A. Veil (Expert Member), heard the petition filed by Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a social and environmental activist.
Dr. Bhat had alleged that illegal riverbed mining in Sukhnag was causing an environmental disaster and destroying aquatic life, particularly the trout fish.
Advocate Saurabh Sharma, the counsel for the petitioner, presented factual details to the NGT’s three-member Principal Bench, along with geo-tagged photos of heavy machinery and dumpers extracting boulders from the Sukhnag Nallah in violation of J&K’s Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016.
The counsel also argued that, due to the halting of water flow in May, more than 2,000 fish died in a nearby trout fish farm owned by a local entrepreneur, Peerzada Rayees. Despite communication between the SDM, Tehsildar, and the Fisheries Department, the Government took no action.
Present during the visit were the Director of Fisheries J&K, SDM Beerwah, SDPO Magam, Tehsildar Beerwah, District Mineral Officer (DMO) Budgam, SHO Beerwah, and petitioner Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat.
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