Illegal Sand Mining

The Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai said that sand is a minor mineral. As per Section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957, State Governments have been empowered to frame rules in respect of minor minerals for regulating the grant of quarry leases, mining leases or other mineral concessions in respect of minor minerals and for purposes connected therewith. Both as a consequence of this, and the fact that the States have been granted powers to frame rules regarding illegal mining in terms of Section 23C of MDMR Act, 1957, this is a subject which is entirely under the legislative and administrative jurisdiction of the States.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai said that in the light of the reports in the media regarding alleged large scale illegal mining of sand in various parts of the country, the Principal Secretaries/Secretaries in charge of Mines in the States/UTs were called for discussion meetings held on 29.10.2014 to 31.10.2014.

The Minister said that the representatives of all the participating State Governments brought to the notice of the Ministry the legal framework to curb/stop illegal sand mining that exist in their respective States and the problems being faced by them in curbing the menace of illegal mining of sand as well its adverse impact to the environment. Information on the price of sand, rates of royalty, the mode of payment and the revenue sharing methods practiced by each state was shared in the meeting. The issue regarding the size of the mines/reaches as well as the issues involved in obtaining environmental clearance subsequent to Deepak Kumar judgment was also discussed.

He said that states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have stated their opinion that there has been a rise in the cases of illegal mining of minor minerals especially sand, after the stipulation of obtaining EC in such cases was mandated following the Deepak Kumar judgment. Obtaining EC has proved to be difficult, with the various stages in obtaining it. It was felt necessary to approach the Supreme Court to seek a clarification as to whether the requirement of obtaining EC for minor minerals for areas less than 5 Ha is a permanent obligation or is only a transitory requirement till such time all the State Governments frame rules under Section 15 of MMDR Act taking into consideration the recommendations of Ministry of Environment and Forests in its Report of March 2010 and model guidelines framed by the Ministry of Mines.

The Minister said that it was noticed that each State Government has adopted different approaches for governing sand mining based on the geomorphology of the State, the prevailing socio-economic conditions, the demand for sand and the strength of the administrative machinery. Almost all the State Governments pointed out that litigation is strangulating the administrative integrity impeding grant/renewal of sand mining leases resulting in increase in illegal mining. Most of the State Governments have evolved/are evolving sand mining policy subsequent to Deepak Kumar judgment and have also adopted IT in a big way.

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NSK/NN