Residents call for the closure of mining operations
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Dec 26: Senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF), the Central Pollution Control Board, and the J&K Pollution Control Committee visited Sail and Kangripora villages in Budgam’s Beerwah area today. Their purpose was to evaluate the damage inflicted by illegal riverbed mining in the Sukhnag river.
The local residents addressed the team, established by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the case Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat v/s UT of J&K (OA No-1211/2024).
The team, which arrived from New Delhi and Chandigarh, was assigned to conduct an on-site assessment of the detrimental effects caused to the Sukhnag river by the construction company NKC Projects Pvt Ltd.
According to the petition submitted to the NGT, NKC Projects has been engaged in extensive extraction of boulders, gravel, and other riverbed materials in the region for the past three years without securing any necessary environmental clearances.
Numerous locals congregated to appeal to the visiting team to mandate an end to the illegal mining operations in the Sukhnag river.
The team reassured the residents that justice would prevail according to the law and that a comprehensive report would be delivered to the NGT before the next hearing scheduled for January 14, 2025.
During their visit, locals informed the team that agricultural fields have become barren and springs have been adversely affected due to excessive mining.
They also reported contamination of water sources as a result of mining activities and significant dust pollution from the heavy vehicles transporting riverbed materials.
On October 4, 2024, the NGT’s Principal Bench, comprising Justice Prakash Srivastava (Chairperson), Justice A.K. Tyagi (Judicial Member), and Dr. Senthil A. Veil (Expert Member), heard the petition brought forward by Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a prominent social and environmental activist.
Dr. Bhat alleged that illicit riverbed mining in Sukhnag was leading to an ecological crisis and harming aquatic species, particularly trout fish.
Advocate Saurabh Sharma, representing the petitioner, provided details to the NGT’s three-member Principal Bench, including geo-tagged images of heavy machinery and dumpers illegally extracting boulders from the Sukhnag Nallah, contravening J&K’s Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016.
The counsel argued that, following the disruption of water flow in May, over 2,000 fish perished in a nearby trout farm owned by local entrepreneur Peerzada Rayees, and despite communications among the SDM, Tehsildar, and the Fisheries Department, the Government failed to take action.
Among those present during the visit were the Director of Fisheries J&K, SDM Beerwah, SDPO Magam, Tehsildar Beerwah, District Mineral Officer (DMO) Budgam, SHO Beerwah, and petitioner Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat.
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