The National Green Tribunal (NGT) disposed of an application filed alleging illegal sand mining, transportation without any authority by use of dumper and pokolen machine in the District Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh.
The application filed by one Jitendra Alias Raja Lilhare alleged that telephone calls to the administrative officers of the districts and not responding to the call or not attending the call by the officers.
The matter was initiated on the letter petition of 17.10.2023, later on another complaint letter has been received in the office of 08.01.2024 and 36 of 10.01.2024. Since all these applications are related to illegal mining and the counter allegations thus taken up together. The matter was taken up by this Tribunal on a previous date and the Chief Secretary was directed to constitute a committee of competent officers to examine it and to take legal necessary actions and to report.
The Chief Secretary constituted a committee consisting Commissioner Jabalpur Region, Inspector General, Balaghat Zone, Chief Conservator of Forest, Balaghat Zone, Joint Director, Mines, Jabalpur and Regional Officer Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board with the direction to examine the matter and report.
These officers examined the matter and submitted the report with the facts that various actions have been taken by the authorities concerned for illegal mining, storage and illegal transportation and the amount of Environmental Compensation in the form of penalty has been imposed and realised by the persons concerned.
If the complaint is aggrieved by any particular act against any particular person who is violating the law at a particular place he is at liberty to file an original application or application before the appropriate forum according to the procedure , held by the Central Bench of Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and Dr. Arun Kumar Verma.
So far as the issue relates to the telephone call by the complainant and version of the complainant is that the higher authorities were not responding or not attending the telephone call is concerned the Bench observed that this act is not within the domain of the National Green Tribunal and this cannot be inferred that they had violated the environmental rules.
The committee has submitted the report that the district administration is taking proper legal actions against the violators of law to enforce the rule of law and environmental norms. The authorities are being pressurized by the group of persons to blackmail and not to make challan which cannot be permissible according to rules.
“District Administration/Authorities are statutorily bound to take actions against the violators of law and they are directed that in case of any violation of any environmental norms or illegal sand mining, transposition or storage of illegal mining they have to proceed in accordance with the law.”
The Bench directed that the applicant is at liberty to file an appropriate application according to the procedure with a specific name and particular place of the person violating the law.