NAVI MUMBAI | July 19, 2017: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday asked the environment and forest department to file affidavits on a petition filed by a city resident pleading for stopping of quarrying in the Parsik Hills.

The petition, filed earlier this year, says the hills have been mined beyond permissible limits leading to environmental degradation.

"The two departments have been asked to file their affidavits in a week's time. The final hearing has been scheduled for August 28," said MPCB regional officer Anil Mohekar. The green tribunal met for the first time after the June vacation on Wednesday.

Public Relation Council of India (PRCI) has launched a social media campaign to save the hill. Four NGOs—Shree Ekavira, Awaaz Foundation, Watchdog Foundation and Vanashakti—have also supported the PRCI campaign.

"We are not against development but enough resources are available beyond the Western ghats in the Deccan plateau. If the government can regulate the price of milk, it can always do so for stone chips and save the hill," said PRCI president B N Kumar.

In their affidavits filed before NGT, MPCB, Cidco and NMMC have taken a cautious stand on the mining issue.

Mining in the hills stopped on April 1. "In the absence of royalty collection, the entire operation of blasting and crushing is illegal and so we stopped all quarrying activities," said Namdeo Thakur, president of Navi Mumbai quarry owners association.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)