Report of the Joint Committee in the matter of Abhishek Pandey Vs Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change dated November 1, 2022.

The report was in compliance to the National Green Tribunal order, July 20, 2022. The matter related to illegal excavation of sand from Son river by obstructing the river stream at village Thatara, district Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh by M/s. R K Transport and Construction Ltd. It is said that the project proponent has been granted environmental clearance (EC) for sand quarry in prohibited area of eco-sensitive zone of Son Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary. Mining lease has been given without auction and EC has also been illegally given at place where mining is not permissible.

The Joint Committee visited the site, August 13, 2022.

The Joint Committee report said that the proposed site of river sand mining on Son river is located 1138 meters from the eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) of Son Ghariyal Wildlife Sanctuary.

It has been written within the Environmental Clearance (EC) issued by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Madhya Pradesh that there is no national park/sanctuary/biodiversity area within the 10 km radius but as per Gazette Notification, December 13, 2016 issued by the MoEF&CC there is a notified eco sensitive zone of Son Ghariyal Wildlife Sanctuary in that area.

During the field visit no document was provided by the Officer in Charge (mining section) of district Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh related to the annual replenishment study of sand in the mining lease area.

The letter, August 17, 2022 of Deputy Director, Sanjay Tiger Reserve, Sidhi stated that the distance of the Thatara mine from Sone Gharial Sanctuary has been found to be 1.950 km and the distance of the sanctuary notified eco-sensitive zone to the Thatara mine is found to be 950 meters.