VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday made it clear to the State government that it should not allow sand mining without having environment clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and No Objection Certificate from the Inland Waterways Authority of India.
Dealing with a PIL filed against the unauthorised sand mining in the State, the High Court at one stage said it would not hesitate to issue interim orders to ensure that the tender was not given to any firm for sand mining without environment clearance and NOC.
The PIL was filed by D Nagendra Kumar of Dharanikota mandal in Palnadu district against the continuation of sand mining by Jayaprakash Power Ventures and Turnkey Enterprise Private Limited even as the lease period expired on May 2 this year.
The petitioner prayed the court to constitute a committee with a retired judge to look into the violations in sand mining and to stall the tender process.
Petitioner’s counsel VV Laxminarayana said it is against the rules to call for e-tenders without getting the NOC from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). He said mining is going on even after the end of lease period and produced photographs to prove his claim. He said bunds were constructed by digging Venkanna Hills at Vaikuntapuram in Amaravati mandal to stop the flow of river Krishna.
The IWAI has found fault with the construction of bunds, he said.
Advocate General S Sriram said the petitioner had earlier approached the NGT against the illegal sand mining and the tribunal has issued certain orders. Sriram said the NGT is supervising the mining activity in the State.