Pune | Jan 06, 2017: The National Green Tribunal bench here has directed a show-cause notice to be issued to the state-level expert appraisal committee (SEAC) for withholding environment clearance (EC) proposals of 20 mine owners in Sindhudurg district despite its order on August 17, 2015 to decide the same on merit.
The SEAC recommends EC grants for projects to the state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA). The proposals for projects are moved through the concerned district collector, who happens to be the project proponent.
The show-cause notice is to be issued to the deputy secretary of the state environment department who is also an ex-officio member secretary of the SEAC. The official has to explain within a fortnight, why legal action should not be taken for "wilful non-compliance" of the tribunal's directions.
In a ruling on December 27, 2016, the bench of Justice Jawad Rahim and Ajay A Deshpande directed the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to decide the EC proposals of the 20 mine owners within eight months as the SEAC and the SEIAA have ceased to exist owing to the lapse of their terms.
In August 2015, the green tribunal had given three months time to the SEAC to decide the EC proposals of the 20 applicants, who own Laterite stone mines of less than five hectare each. However, the committee did not act till the applicants informed its member secretary about the need for compliance of the tribunal's order.
It took up the proposals for discussion between February 24 and 26 last year. But the SEAC decided to keep them in abeyance till the finalization of the MoEF's draft notification earmarking the ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) in the Western Ghats. The draft was published on September 4, 2015. The SEAC justified its action on the premise that these mines fall in the 21 villages shown as ESA in the draft notification.
The aggrieved mine owners once again moved the NGT through their lawyer Saurabh Kulkarni, alleging non-compliance of the August 17, 2015 order and seeking a conditional nod for resumption of mining operations.
The bench then observed, "The EC regulations of 2006 stipulate a time frame for various authorities involved in the grant of EC process and therefore, in our considered opinion, the stance of SEAC to keep such EC applicants pending is in violation of the basic mandate of the EC regulations. Such actions can frustrate the very objective of the EC regulations aimed at sustainable development."
February 27, 2012: Supreme Court judgement makes environment clearance (EC) mandatory for mines with less than 5 hectare area
September 2012: Mining operations in Sindhudurg district are stopped with the mine owners directed to secure ECs for their operation.
April 17, 2013: A high-level working group under K Kasturirangan submits its recommendations on the positions taken by different stakeholders on the professor Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghats ecology expert panel's report submitted in August, 2011. The Kasturirangan report date was designated as the cut-off date for submission of EC proposals.
20 mine owners from Kankawli in Sindhudurg district complained that they submitted their EC proposals on April 10, 2013, i.e. a week before the cut-off date. Yet, the SEAC is procrastinating on their pleas, affecting their livelihood.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)