"Happening under your nose": Supreme Court slams MP, Rajasthan officials over illegal sand mining

After the recent death of a forest guard who was hit by a tractor suspected to have been used by sand mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh's Morena, the Supreme Court today came down heavily on State authorities for failing to curb illegal sand mining in the Chambal sanctuary region.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned the very existence of State machinery if it is unable to protect its officers and natural resources.

"It is happening under your nose. Affidavits say you don’t have weapons. Why at all the state government is existing? It’s a very peculiar thing. These excavators and bulldozers which mining mafia uses they are secular. They don’t see the caste of the person they are killing. As against… we should stop there. Extremely sad state of affairs. The State governments have totally failed. Or rather they are in connivance." the Court said.

Pertinently, last week, the Madhya Pradesh government had admitted before the Court that its officers lacked adequate weapons to confront illegal sand mining mafias operating in the Chambal region.

The Court was hearing its suo motu case on illegal sand mining across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Today, the Court was informed that illegal sand mining was also taking place near 8 out of the 34 pillars of the Ater-Fatehpur bridge, through which over 5,000 people pass daily.

Amicus curiae Senior Advocate Nikhil Goel informed the Bench that large quantities of sand were being removed from beneath the bridge pillars, posing a serious safety risk to commuters.

“8 out of 34 pillars of the Chambal bridge have been affected, and about 25 to 50 feet of sand has been dug out from beneath the pillars,” the amicus submitted.

"We have seen the pictures. They are absolutely shocking," the Court said.

Earlier in the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Madhya Pradesh government, informed the Court that the recent death of the forest guard was under investigation.

He also told the Court that a fact-finding committee had been constituted to examine illegal sand mining from beneath the Ater–Fatehpur bridge which would soon file its report.

“That report will come after the bridge has collapsed and people have died?” the Court asked.

"We will give it within one week," Raju assured.

The Court questioned how such large-scale illegal mining had been allowed to continue unchecked at the first place.

“Why did you allow it to happen? Are the officials of the State blind?” the Court asked.

Expressing concerns over the continued illegal mining activity, the bench observed that immediate preventive steps were necessary to monitor the movement of vehicles involved in sand mining.

The Court suggested that high-resolution cameras could be installed on elevated poles in the affected areas to capture images of vehicles transporting mined sand.

The Bench also proposed the use of GPS trackers in all tractors, earthmovers and loaders operating in the identified districts to monitor their movement.

“Any vehicle that passes through the area, it has to have a tracker,” the Court observed.

It asked the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and State officials to explore workable solutions to implement these measures and posted the matter for further hearing on April 17.

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