The state government has decided to cancel all the existing sand mining leases and go in for a fresh auction. There are about 90 leases in vogue, all of which will be cancelled by the government following the High Court’s order to prevent indiscriminate mining which was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court. The government will also submit a comprehensive sand mining policy and river management plan to the ministry of environment and forests and obtain its clearance as directed by the courts.
Official sources said the government would approach the state level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority for the approval of mining. Officials were busy preparing maps of sand reaches, with new coordinates, that will not hamper the river’s flow. The state is considering avoiding a public hearing as far as possible by reducing the extent of the reaches to below 25 hectares. (The assessment authority can permit mining without conducting a public hearing if the extent is below 25 hectares.) “We want to restore mining as quickly as possible to avoid hardships. In the first phase, reaches with less extent will be put for auction and the bigger ones will be posed to the ministry later,” an official said.