VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday took serious view of the unrestrained mining of hills and said if it continued, it would not hesitate to give orders stalling the mining of hills altogether. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayajulu, heard two Public Interest Litigations (PILs).
The first one, filed by Jana Sena corporator Murthy Yadav from Visakhapatnam, stated that cutting down of trees in Survey No 19 of Yendada, which is Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), and permission for quarrying was against the MoEF rules.
The second one was filed by Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna on the same subject, last year. On the occasion, the bench observed that if the trees are cut down, they can be regrown, but the same cannot be done in case of hills.
It said orders will be issued to protect the hills. At the same time, the court permitted the petitioner to reply to the counter filed by the government with regard to renovation of resorts on Rushikonda.
The government pleader informed the court that senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi will argue the case and at the same time petitioners' counsel sought time to file reply to the counter filed by the government in resorts case. Further hearing of the case was posted to July 14.