KOCHI | Feb 19, 2015: The state government on Wednesday submitted before the Kerala High Court that environmental clearance has been stipulated for grant of lease or permit for quarrying and mining as per the newly framed Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2015. The state filed the counter-affidavit in response to the petitions by quarry owners seeking a directive to issue permits and renew the licences.

The state government pointed out that, as per rule 13 of the rules, no person shall be eligible for a permit on a particular area of contiguous land owner and possessed by him if he has availed of permits for quarrying up to a maximum period of three years in different spells on the same land. As per the rules, the minimum size of the mining lease area is fixed as one hectare. The lease area had been fixed with regard to the density of population, lack of availability of land for industrial or such other purposes, small size of land holdings and absence of minor minerals in a contiguous land of five hectares in a small states like Kerala. In fact, according to the recommendation of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the minimum size of the mining lease area should be five hectares. The minimum period of minimum lease should be five years. However, on account of judicial intervention, short-term lease could be granted to the state agencies.

The state pointed out that one year time was granted to the existing quarries which are having valid permit as on January 9,2015, for obtaining and submitting mining plan. Such exemption was given because of the fact that there are no sufficient qualified persons to prepare mining plan and the fact that the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority is not functioning due to no constitution of authority under the Environmental Protection Act by the Central Government. More than 2000 quarries that are functioning as of now required mining plan to be submitted.

Therefore, it was not practical to obtain the mining plan all of a sudden. The total stoppage due to want of mining plan will result in standstill of the entire quarry operation in the state which may affect the ongoing developmental projects and thereby affect the whole state. Financial guarantees for reclamation and quarry safety fund had been incorporated under the rules to ensure reclamation and rehabilitation of mined areas.

(Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/)