The Supreme Court today made it mandatory that there can be no mining or factories in 1 kilometre vicinity of any protected park or wild sanctuary.
In its order the court said that every protected forest or wildlife sanctuary should have dedicated 1km eco sensitive zone where there shall be no permission of developmental work. The Court also said that incase an ongoing project is currently functional , it can only and only continue after the permission from conservator of forest.
If there is any Manufacturing or similar activities underway along these zones it would be on the decision of the Chief Conservator of Forest.
The Supreme Court has added that all the Chief Conservator from different places must list of all existing structures that come under the ESZ and submit within span of 3 months.
The petition in the court is all about issues including forest preservation.
A bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai and Aniruddha Bose held that mining should not be allowed in wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.
“We direct that each protected forest will have ESZ [Ecologically-Sensitive Zone] of 1 km. If ESZ is prescribed already which goes beyond 1 km buffer zone then such an extended boundary shall prevail. The Chief Conservator of Forests of each State shall make a list of subsisting structures under the ESZ, and submit a report to this Court within 3-months period,” the Court said.
The Bench also, incase of mining in Rajasthan directed the Central Empowered committee to compute compensation for unlawful mining carried out at the Jamwa Ramgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan.
Read order below
2997_1995_5_1501_36130_Judgement_03-Jun-2022