SRINAGAR: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed an interim penalty of nearly Rs 16 lakh on two contractors, who were undertaking riverbed mining with heavy machinery in the Doodh Ganga stream near Chadoora town, NGT said in a statement.
The tribunal instructed the JK Pollution Control Committee and District Magistrate Budgam to recover the compensation within two months from the contractors. Additionally, the contractors were directed to halt the mining operations in Doodh Ganga immediately. The judgement was reserved by NGT’s bench of Justice Sudhir Aggarwal (Judicial Member) and Dr Senthil Veil (Expert Member) in December of last year.
Justice Sudhir Aggarwal of NGT passed a final order on March 15th addressing Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat’s application concerning illegal mining.
NGT’s bench imposed the interim penalty on contractors Danish Yousuf and Rouf Ahmad on for contravening the terms and conditions outlined in the environmental clearance granted for their mining lease. The contractors were directed to deposit the same within two months with the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board.
“The said amount shall be subject to final computation of environmental compensation by JKPCC,” it said.
“Respondent 5 Danish Yousuf has been allowed extraction of 37320 MT in 3 months while respondent 6 Rouf Ahmad has been allowed to extract 41676 MT of the minor minerals i.e., sand, gravel and boulders. If we take a very considerate sale price on average basis at the rate of 200 per MT, it will come to Rs 74,64,000/- in case of Danish Yousuf and in case of Rouf Ahmad, it will come to Rs 83,35,200/- and 10 percent thereof, in each case would come to Rs 7,46400/- and Rs 8,33,520/- respectively. We therefore impose the aforesaid amount as interim environmental compensation upon respondents 5 and 6 respectively which shall be paid by them to JK PCC and it shall be subject to final determination of environmental compensation by JK PCC as directed above,” it reads.
Allowing the application partly, the bench imposed an interim environmental compensation of Rs 7,46,400 on Danish Yousuf and Rs 8,33,520 on Rouf Ahmad.
NGT issued comprehensive directives for compliance by JKPCC and the District Magistrate, Budgam, including the preparation of a rejuvenation plan for the affected area and the cessation of mining activities by the violators. These measures aim to ensure accountability, environmental remediation, and the prevention of future violations in alignment with NGT’s commitment to environmental conservation.
