CUTTACK : The Orissa High Court on Wednesday issued an interim stay on new guidelines of the state government for regulating sand quarrying. The guidelines were issued on December 21, 2023.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Prasanta Kumar Das, a city-based social activist, for intervention against mechanised illegal sand mining on the bed of Kathajodi river near Cuttack. On November 29, 2023, the court had warned it would initiate criminal proceedings against officials if they do not mend their ways and stop facilitating proliferation of excess mining of sand by using excavators on Kathajodi river bed within a fortnight.
Informing about compliance of the order, advocate general AK Parija had stated before the court on December 21 that 14 leases have been suspended by issuing show cause notices. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice BR Sarangi and Justice MS Raman issued the stay order after the petitioner filed an affidavit stating notification of the guidelines by the Steel and Mines department on the same day had led to resumption of use of excavators for quarrying of sand on the river bed.
Petitioner counsel SK Dalai pointed out that mining officer (Cuttack) had on the basis of the new regulation lifted suspension on 14 leases and allowed the lessees to use of excavators for mining of sand from the Kathajodi river bed.
Taking note of it, the bench fixed February 1 for further consideration of the matter and stayed operation of the guidelines till then. The mining officer had allowed mechanised mining of sand on Kathajodi river on the basis of the section in the guidelines which prescribed standard environmental condition for sand mining, the petitioner alleged.
The section envisaged, “Depending upon the location, thickness of sand, deposition, agricultural land/river bed, the method of mining may be manual, semi-mechanised or mechanised; however, manual method of mining shall be preferred over any other method.” The stay order assumes significance as it has statewide implications.