NGT: NGT Wants Panel to Check Mining from Yamuna Riverbed in Panipat | Gurgaon News
Gurgaon: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Haryana pollution board to form a committee to check illegal mining in the riverbed of the Yamuna in Panipat and suggest measures to tackle it in three months.
The tribunal was on January 4 hearing a plea by local resident Sachin Tyagi, who alleged that rampant mining of sand from the riverbed using excavators and trucks had affected the flow of the river and forced it to change its course, damaging sugarcane crop across acres in Hathwala village.
The illegally mined sand, the petitioner alleged, was usually piled along the Hathwal road in Garhi Kewal village.
“We deem it proper to form a joint committee comprising the member secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB); the chief secretary, department of irrigation, Haryana, and district magistrate of Panipat. The district magistrate will act as the nodal agency,” said the order by NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel.
The order – uploaded on Sunday – specified the mandate for the committee too. “The joint committee will carry out spot inspections, ascertain the extent of illegal mining done and the persons responsible for the same. It should suggest remedial action and file the report at least one week before the next date of hearing,” it said.
The next hearing is scheduled for March 4.
Sand mining is allowed along the Yamuna banks in Panipat, but only after permission from the authorities concerned. But contractors are often found taking their excavators to the middle of the river and extracting sand from the bed. Mining by unauthorised contractors and villagers only compounds the problem.
Environmental activist Vivek Kamboj explained why the riverbed should be spared.
“Sediments in rivers are usually made up of boulders, stones, pebbles, sand, gravel, clay, and so on. All these play an important role in maintaining the hydrogeology of the river stream and the aquatic ecosystem. These prevent the river from breaching the banks and causing erosion. They also act as substrata for biological growth of aquatic plants, which are crucial for fish and other species to sustain. Extracting sand from the riverbed will only damage the ecosystem,” he told TOI.
A pollution board official said the committee would be formed soon. “We will also submit a factual report in keeping with NGT’s order,” he added.
In June last year, NGT had ordered officials from the district administration, pollution board and the mining department to inspect the Yamuna’s banks in Jainpur village of Sonipat to ascertain if the riverbed was being mined.
In March 2023, Delhi water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had sought to link the “unprecedented” drying up of the Yamuna even before the summer to rampant mining of sand from the river’s bed in Haryana.
Haryana government had denied the allegation, insisting that mining operations in the state adhered to guidelines and did not affect the river’s flow in any way.
In 2022, Sonipat resident Vikas Kumar had approached the green tribunal against a firm, alleging that a temporary bridge it had constructed to aid mining had forced the Yamuna to change its course in the area. NGT had then ordered the formation of another committee to look into the environmental and ecological impacts of mining along the river and construction of temporary bridges to facilitate operations.
The tribunal was on January 4 hearing a plea by local resident Sachin Tyagi, who alleged that rampant mining of sand from the riverbed using excavators and trucks had affected the flow of the river and forced it to change its course, damaging sugarcane crop across acres in Hathwala village.
The illegally mined sand, the petitioner alleged, was usually piled along the Hathwal road in Garhi Kewal village.
“We deem it proper to form a joint committee comprising the member secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB); the chief secretary, department of irrigation, Haryana, and district magistrate of Panipat. The district magistrate will act as the nodal agency,” said the order by NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel.
The order – uploaded on Sunday – specified the mandate for the committee too. “The joint committee will carry out spot inspections, ascertain the extent of illegal mining done and the persons responsible for the same. It should suggest remedial action and file the report at least one week before the next date of hearing,” it said.
The next hearing is scheduled for March 4.
Sand mining is allowed along the Yamuna banks in Panipat, but only after permission from the authorities concerned. But contractors are often found taking their excavators to the middle of the river and extracting sand from the bed. Mining by unauthorised contractors and villagers only compounds the problem.
Environmental activist Vivek Kamboj explained why the riverbed should be spared.
“Sediments in rivers are usually made up of boulders, stones, pebbles, sand, gravel, clay, and so on. All these play an important role in maintaining the hydrogeology of the river stream and the aquatic ecosystem. These prevent the river from breaching the banks and causing erosion. They also act as substrata for biological growth of aquatic plants, which are crucial for fish and other species to sustain. Extracting sand from the riverbed will only damage the ecosystem,” he told TOI.
A pollution board official said the committee would be formed soon. “We will also submit a factual report in keeping with NGT’s order,” he added.
In June last year, NGT had ordered officials from the district administration, pollution board and the mining department to inspect the Yamuna’s banks in Jainpur village of Sonipat to ascertain if the riverbed was being mined.
In March 2023, Delhi water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had sought to link the “unprecedented” drying up of the Yamuna even before the summer to rampant mining of sand from the river’s bed in Haryana.
Haryana government had denied the allegation, insisting that mining operations in the state adhered to guidelines and did not affect the river’s flow in any way.
In 2022, Sonipat resident Vikas Kumar had approached the green tribunal against a firm, alleging that a temporary bridge it had constructed to aid mining had forced the Yamuna to change its course in the area. NGT had then ordered the formation of another committee to look into the environmental and ecological impacts of mining along the river and construction of temporary bridges to facilitate operations.