To curb the menace of illegal mining of river-bed sand, governments of at least nine states have begun a crackdown on these miners by setting up flying squads, levying stiff financial penalties and initiating their respective policies to auction sand. Sand is an essential input in manufacturing of concrete, which is needed by the construction industry. With the boom of the construction industry since early 2000, demand for sand increased manifold. This led to illegal mining of the mineral and its proliferation. The Supreme Court in the “Deepak Kumar vs Govt of Haryana” case in April, 2012, had concluded that a lot of damage had been caused to the environment by unregulated mining of minor minerals. The apex court had reasoned that there were loopholes which has led to this situation and ordered that pending framing of regulations to guide the environmental clearances of minor minerals, all cases of mining of such minerals —even if they are in areas less than five hectares — will require environmental clearances from the Ministry of Environment & Forests.............Read more

Source web page: Indian Express