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| Extraction of minor minerals | | |
Earlier this month, the J&K and Ladakh modified its 17th November 2016 order which had banned extraction of the minor minerals in River Tawi. The modification in the order after about six years was made on an application filed by District Mineral Officer, Geology and Mining Department Jammu, contending that the blanket ban on extraction of minor minerals from River Tawi was causing great hardships to the public at large, inasmuch as, it has led to sky rocketing of costs of minor minerals as well as illegal extraction.
It was further submitted that Government exchequer was being put to huge losses due to the ban and the continuous deposition of minor minerals in the River Tawi has become a potential threat of submerging of banks of the river in the event of a flood. The contentions by District Mineral Officer were based, as per the official stand, on the recommendation of various committees, underling that the ban has led to sprouting of a parallel industry of illegal operators who exploited the demand supply matrix and started freelancing mostly exploiting shoals formed in the Tawi basin for sand and at times for aggregates known ‘bajri’ in local parlance. Also, one of the committees highlighted that non-exploitation of potential spots in river Tawi since 2016 has led to deposition of river bed material in vulnerable stretches which used to get removed periodically for local consumption and that there was every apprehension of loss to human life and property in the event these are left as these are and the resultant flow pattern is likely to be detrimental to adjoining human habitations in case of sudden run off from the catchment areas during rainy season.
The geographical location of the Tawi River is such that it shares trans-border with Pakistan, another committee underlined. The considerable quantity of minor mineral resources in the river gets transported across the international border during every monsoon period through natural processes of flow mechanism of river. The mineral resource in the form of aggregates and sand shall continue to deposit in the territory of Pakistan thereby putting loss to the J&K exchequer if not retrieved systematically within guided principles of mine planning, it stressed.
Considering the application and weighing environment concerns besides amendment effected to the Rules of 2016 Vide SRO 161 dated 07.03.2019, providing for grant of mining leases only through the mode of e-auction, the court modified the 17 November 2016 order to the extend it provided for the blanket ban on the extraction of the mineral minerals from river Tawi. Now that the ban has been lifted, the government agencies concerned must ensure strict adherence to the Rules of 2016. |
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