The Supreme Court on Friday termed rampant illegal riverbed sand mining in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary an “environmental crisis”, warning that it poses a serious threat to the gharial conservation project.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta came down heavily on Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for failing to curb the activity, and directed the installation of high-resolution, Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along routes frequently used for illegal mining.
The court ordered that live feeds from these cameras be placed under the direct supervision of the Superintendent of Police or Senior Superintendent of Police of the concerned district, along with the Divisional Forest Officer.
These officials have been tasked with ensuring continuous monitoring by designated personnel.
“It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote,” Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The Bench directed authorities to take prompt legal action in all detected instances of illegal mining, including seizure of vehicles and machinery, and prosecution of those involved.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on May 11.
The directions came in a suo motu case, In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife, initiated after the court took cognisance of media reports on March 13.
The 5,400 sq km tri-state sanctuary, spread across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh along the Chambal river, is home to endangered species including the gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle and the Ganges river dolphin.
(With inputs from PTI)