Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is in the dock for ordering the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal, a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Gautam Budh Nagar district.

The Union Environment & Forests Ministry committee has found gross illegalities in the sand mining leases of Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

The regional office of UP Pollution Control Board in Noida has written to the union environment ministry that it has not accorded clearances to any sand mining lease in the district in the last two

The suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttra Pradesh Government has annoyed the common people as well as the representatives of different officer lobbies throughout the country.

The Environment and Forests Ministry has constituted a committee to assess illegal mining in Uttar Pradesh and the panel will submit a report by August 9.

The Ministry decided to send a team to the State after United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the Prime Minister seeking stronger action to defend officers such as Durga Shakti Nagpal.

The committee includes MoEF director Dr Saroj, deputy collector of minses (incharge)Dehradun office of IBM and MoEF regional office director K K Garg. "The committee would look into the factual position with a view of suggesting the further course of action," said an MoEF note.

The national green tribunal (NGT) on Sunday banned mining or removal of sand from river beds across the country without an environmental clearance amid the uproar over suspension of an IAS officer

Amid the uproar over the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday took judicial note of the environmental threat due to indiscriminate sand mining