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

The National Green Tribunal today restrained sand mining without any licence or environmental clearance from river beds across the country on a plea alleging that such activities were going on in U

The National Green Tribunal today 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 who had cr

Sand mining in large parts of Maharashtra continues without mandatory environmental clearance, which is against the Supreme Court’s orders, activist Sumaira Abdulali has alleged.

Not just in Gautam Budh Nagar, where former SDM Durga Shakti Nagpal is believed to have been suspended for taking on the sand mafia, illegal mining activities have shot up across UP with no fresh l

Nationwide stay on sand mining comes on plea following Nagpal suspension

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday ordered a nationwide stay on sand mining on river beds without Environment Ministry clearance. The interim order came on a petition filed by the NGT Bar Association as a reaction to the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who had been overseeing a drive against illegal sand mining in Gautam Budh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh.

Illegal sand mining is a lucrative business in Uttar Pradesh with all the major rivers in the State mined by the mining mafia with strong political links.

The National Green Tribunal on Monday restrained sand mining without any licence or environmental clearance from river beds across the country on a plea alleging that such activities were going on in UP with the "wilful connivance" of its state machinery.

Widening the ambit of the plea, a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said its order would be applicable across the nation as the petition raises substantial environmental issues.

The state government’s claims to have curbed illegal mining in UP holds no water since a proposal to raise a dedicated task force to achieve this end is gathering dust since June 18.