VIJAYAWADA: The Joint Committee formed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has found that sand mining was in operation in the reaches it had inspected in Krishna and Guntur districts without valid environmental clearances. Further, mining was being done 24 hours a day in these reaches, the MoEF&CC Joint Committee said in its report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday.
The inspection was done in the sand reaches located in the erstwhile Guntur and Krishna districts from January 17 to 19. The committee was constituted by the NGT, which heard separate petitions alleging illegal sand mining in the State.
The report said though they had sought information and documents from the Department of Mines and Geology regarding the district-wise sand reaches allotted along with reach-wise quantities permitted and violations noticed, the State government had not furnished any information. Following this, the committee inspected eight sand reaches in Guntur and six in Krishna.
“The inspected reach areas are in operation without valid environmental clearance issued by State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA),’’ the report said, adding mining is being carried out with heavy machinery.
Further, as per the way bill and cash memos maintained at the mining site, the committee observed that mining was carried out 24 hours a day.
The other violations included issue of manual way bills, non-issue of computer generated transport permits with bar code, non-installation of CCTV cameras at the reach, lack of tracking of vehicles/trucks, etc at all reach areas.
“As per the analysis of satellite image available since 2021 in Google Earth, it is observed that sand mining is carried out beyond the granted lease area by the Mines and Geology Department without Environmental Clearance issued by SEIAA, Consent for Establishment and Consent for Operation issued by the AP Pollution Control Board,’’ it said.
The report said since 2021, environmental clearances for sand mining in the State were issued in favour of Assistant Director of Mines and Geology (ADMG) and Jai Prakash Power Ventures Limited, Vijayawada.
In the additional submissions made by the committee, it was mentioned that the representative from the MoEF&CC had observed the sand mining with JCBs is being done in Godavari river at Jonnada village in Alamuru mandal of Konaseema district on February 19 and the relevant photographs were made available to the NGT.
“It is evident from the report of the MoEF&CC that the sand mining is being done without valid environmental clearance and in violation of the conditions imposed during the mining operation by deploying heavy machinery, the Project Proponents are liable for punishment,’’ the NGT said.
As a case related to the sand mining issue is pending in the Supreme Court, the NGT directed the MoEF&CC to place the report of the committee before the court on the next date of hearing.
Curb illegal sand mining in two Krishna villages: HC
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the District Collector of Krishna to prevent illegal sand mining in Krishna river at Nadikuduru and Nimmagadda villages in Challapalli mandal. The court directed the Collector to submit a report on the steps taken to stop illegal sand mining in the river.
The court gave these orders while hearing a public interest litigation filed by social activist T Leela Krishna alleging illegal sand mining in the two villages. The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that the local tahsildar and police were turning a blind eye to the blatant illegal sand mining in the river and demanded action.