The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a ban on the order passed by Nainital high court five months back that prohibited mining in the river Ganga in Uttarakhand. The move will now allow the Uttarakhand government to start clearing of the riverbed material (RBM) from the river so as to prevent its flooding in the monsoon season.
According to a report published in The Times of India, Sailesh Bagoli, secretary, mining said, “We will ensure only scientific picking of extra material is done from the river bed in Uttarakhand. Moreover, this will be done only after getting permission from all levels. Mining has a ripple effect on the overall economy of the state. That is why we had argued before the court that it’s necessary to remove extra river bed material to regulate the water flow”.
On December 5, 2016, a Nainital high court bench of justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh passed an order banning all the mining activities in the Ganga in Uttarakhand. HC announcement was a major setback for the mining industry and many people got jobless. Last year, the industry provided Rs 30 crore as annual royalties to the state.
Director of the state mining department, Vinay Shankar Pandey said that the apex court decision has come after Uttarakhand govt filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court asking lifting of mining ban in the state. “No mining takes place between June and October and by the time mining started the high court’s ban order came,” said Pandey.
