The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Centre to prepare a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM) “for the entire Aravalis” and barred the grant of new mining licences in the region before it is finalised.
“We…direct the MoEF&CC (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) to prepare a MPSM through ICFRE (Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education) for the entire Aravalis, i.e., understood as the continuous geological ridge extending from Gujarat to Delhi on the lines of the MPSM for Saranda,” a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria ordered.
The bench said that “it may not be in the interest of ecology and environment if further mining activities are permitted to be carried out without a body of experts… examining the issue of protection of the conservation areas. The MPSM will provide adequate data on the basis of geo-referenced ecological assessment and identify the areas which have wildlife and other high eco-sensitive areas, which are required to be conserved. The MPSM will also provide data as to how sustainable mining is to be conducted.”
The SC said that “the MPSM must… identify permissible areas for mining, ecologically sensitive, conservation-critical and restoration-priority areas within the Aravali landscape where mining shall be strictly prohibited or permitted only under exceptional and scientifically justified circumstances…”
