RJD and Congress ministers had opposed auction policy

With coalition partners the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and the Congress stepping up opposition to the government’s policy to auction sand from riverbeds, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday night announced that the government would restore access and control over the minor minerals to panchayats.

The State government will ban stone quarrying in a five-km radius of dams and reservoirs in Karnataka.

The Valpoi police have registered a case regarding illegal mining of minor minerals in Vante and Advoi villages of Sattari.

Once dominated by agriculture and horticulture, the villages in the panchayat of Mencurem and Dumaxem are today facing a threat from sand mining activities, say some of the 1,411 residents.

The government on Monday declared a part of Thol wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat as a Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) and banned mining, commercial and industrial activity in the area.

A draft notification of the environment ministry said that the government shall also constitute a State level Eco-sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee (SESZMC) to monitor the compliance of the ESZ notification.

The Supreme Court has stayed proceedings in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in connection with illegal mining of sand from river beds, the Tribunal was on Friday informed.

The ministry in its notification has prohibited all new and existing mining of minor and major minerals, stone quarrying and crushing units with immediate effect in all the six sanctuaries

No mining will be allowed around the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of six wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in Goa with the Environment Ministry today imposing a ban on such activities. The central government shall also constitute state level ESZ Monitoring Committee (SESZMC) under section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 to monitor the compliance of the ESZ notification for the state.

The Supreme Court today allowed the use of forest areas in Faridabad for holding marriages and parties but suspended mining of 20 million metric tonnes of minor minerals in Sonepat and Panipat.

In a big relief to the general public, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre’s application that henceforth only the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests will grant environmental clear

Facing rampant mining in the state, Meghalaya government said on Wednesday said that while sand mining would not be banned, it would put in place regulations and provide alternative options for sus