Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Narender Kumar Vs Union of India & Others dated 04/01/2024.

In the application, applicant has prayed for termination of the Environment Clearance (EC) dated February 21, 2020 issued in favour M/s Tirupati Roadways and also sought a direction to forthwith stop the miners from extracting the minerals from the concerned block in village Rattewali, tehsil Barwala, district Panchkula.

The case of the applicant is that Tirupati Roadways was granted the EC wherein the mineable area was 24.25 Ha and the permissible mining of river bed material was limited to 8.39 LTPA with a maximum minable depth of 1.33 meter. The EC was granted in respect of “Rattewali Block/PKL B-10” in district Panchkula, Haryana.

The grievance of the applicant is that the unit had violated the EC conditions and done mining much in excess of the permissible limit. Further, the counsel for the applicant pointed out that in a surprise check done by the vigilance department it was found that the unit had extracted the mineral six time more than the permissible limit in a year and thus caused a huge loss of revenue of about Rs 35 crore to the government of Haryana.

The court was also informed that a committee was also constituted which found the illegal extraction to the extent of 6686035.68 MT and the notice of termination of contract dated August 22, 2023 was issued but the unit is still continuing with illegal mining.

The tribunal directed a five member committee to carry out the site inspection, examine the records and submit a report relating to the extent of illegal mining by M/s Tirupati Roadways, the extent of environmental damage caused in that process and remedial action. In the meanwhile, the court directed the authorities to ensure that no illegal mining is done by the unit in contravention of the EC.