Hindustan
Times: Chandigarh: Friday, November 09, 2012.
The Punjab
and Haryana high court has directed the union ministry of environment and
forests to submit its reply within two weeks on a petition seeking directions
to the ministry to decide all environment impact assessment and environment
management plan reports for carrying out mining activities submitted by the
Punjab government in June0 within 15 days.
The
petitioner, Ranjit Singh of SAS Nagar, submitted before the division bench
comprising chief justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and justice Rakesh Kumar Jain that
the delay in taking the final decision on the reports was making the public
suffer due to manifold increase in prices of sand and gravel.
The bench was
informed that as per information received under the Right To Information (RTI)
Act, 2005, the Punjab government had submitted environment impact assessment
and environment management plan reports to the Centre for environmental
clearance for mining projects on June 25 and 29.
Appearing for
the petitioner, advocate Rupinder Singh Khosla submitted that as per the
notification dated September 14, 2006, issued by the Centre, its expert
appraisal authority has to recommend the grant or refusal of the environmental
clearance within 60 days. Thereafter, the regulatory authority has to take a
decision for the grant or refusal of approval and convey the assessment to the
project proponent within 45 days.
Surprisingly,
the expert appraisal authority has not met to consider the project submitted
for its approval as yet, even though more than four months (126 days) have
passed since the submission of the project reports, submitted Khosla.
It was
informed that the high court, through its separate orders dated August 17 and
September 5, had banned mining in Punjab till the grant of environment
clearance. It had not only brought the complete mining sector to a halt but
also developmental works in the state had taken a back seat, the court was
informed.
The case
would now come up for hearing on November 19.
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