Environmental Awareness Forum demands independent probe into Tawi mining issue

5 May 2021

Follow Ziraat Times on Whatsapp - Join Now

Jammu: Bhushan Parimoo, veteran environmentalist and president Environmental Awareness Forum, has termed the four member committee constituted under the Government order no.15 -MNG dated 04.05.2021 to examine illegal mining charges around River Tawi it an “eye wash”.

“The public wants an impartial probe to know the facts. As allegations are of very serious nature. Composition of the committee is drawn from the same department against the allegations are levelled. One of the members, the oldest in the department, is the key person, as alleged, on track record the key player in the deals in the entire UT, stinks of corruption”, he said in a statement to Ziraat Times today.

“Illegal mining is not confined to a stretch of a few kilometers of River Tawi passing through Jammu Tawi for which the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu has taken cognizance in the Public Interest Litigation titled Dewakar Sharma and Another Versus State of J&K and others. An undeniable fact is that the entire Union Territory of the Jammu and Kashmir is subjected to unscientific, illegal extraction on minor minerals from the rivers, streams, Nallahs”, Mr Parimoo said.

Observing that each and every river is crucial to the equilibrium of the environment, a “living organism”, the blood that nourishes the earth, Mr Parimoo said that along its entire route, is a fundamental resource not only for human life but for fauna and flora too.

“Environment Awareness Forum demands government should constitute a high level committee headed by a retired or serving High Court judge, with a reference to inquire into the state-sponsored illegal/unscientific mining winch goes contrary to environment laws affecting the fragile biodiversity of the UT and lay guidelines for extraction on minor minerals beside direction for action against the delinquents”, the statement added.

The Forum shall provide sufficient proof to lay bare the beans about a nexus between various departments and agencies, he added.

He further stated, “Which function in a well calibrated manner facilitates illegal mining to extract minor minerals such as sand, Bajri and Boulders worth crores from the river beds needs to be looked into. Flash floods is a misnomer, above all, the department has got no data of any kind to rely upon viz-a-viz mining of minor minerals such as bajri, sand boulders.”

“Decisions on where to mine, how much and how long, require statutory environmental assessment, site-specific topographic, hydrologic, hydraulic information besides sedimentation behavior of the river. It is dire essential information to determine the amount of minor minerals that can be removed from the area without causing undue erosion or degradation, either at the site or at a nearby location, upstream or downstream. It is also called Sand Budgeting, which in not being carried anywhere in the state on any river stream and other sources. Even forests which are non-mining zones are exploited gravely causing irreparable damage to the ecosystem”, the statement adds.