HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has directed the Director of the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Haripur, Jharkhand, to examine allegations of illegal diversion of overburden soil from the Ramagundam RG-III opencast mine in Peddapalli district for use in highway construction works undertaken by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited.
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed the order while disposing of a writ petition filed by Putta Mukesh, a resident of Erukulagudem in Manthani mandal.
The petitioner alleged that nearly 40 lakh cubic metres of overburden soil, valued at around Rs 22 crore, had been transported over the past six months from the Ramagundam open cast mine at Adyala and Nagaram villages without statutory permissions and in violation of the Mines Act, 1952. According to the plea, the soil was being diverted for construction of the Greenfield Highway from Mancherial to Warangal by MEIL.
Counsel for the petitioner argued that overburden soil must be used for backfilling the mine and alleged violations of the Mines Act, Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, and the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. It was further alleged that repeated representations submitted between November 2025 and March 2026 were ignored by the authorities.
Without examining the merits of the allegations, the court directed DGMS to consider the petitioner’s representation dated February 19, 2026, issue notices to all stakeholders, including MEIL, and pass orders within four weeks after granting an opportunity of hearing.