Bombay high court okay with govt policy, lifts ban on sand mining

The Bombay high court on Tuesday vacated the month-long stay on sand mining in Maharashtra after expressing its satisfaction over the government’s new policy for sand excavation.

But taking environmental safeguards into account, justice BH Marlapalle and justice UD Salvi said the excavation cannot exceed two metres from the surface of the ‘floor, river, or creek’.

A petition filed by the Sagar Shramik Hatpati Walu Utpadak Sahakari Sanstha Maryadit had said that continuous sand extraction posed serious environmental threats to riverbeds in the state and if ignored, it could lead to flood-like situations in places close to rivers.

Advocate general Ravi Kadam had urged the court to lift the stay. The court had said that the stay would be lifted only after the government issued and implemented a resolution for proper sand excavation policy. On Tuesday, Kadam told the court that a government resolution had been issued.

“The policy has tried to plug the loopholes by and large. It also seeks to make the government machinery accountable for its implementation,” the court said.

The policy entails registration of vehicles transporting the sand. A committee will survey an area before a sand mining contract is granted. Also, it would be the government and not the collector who would take a decision on the use of machines. This policy, the court said, may hold good for the next 10 years. “After that there may be no sand left. It is a limited resource.”