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Himachal Govt Faces NGT Heat Over Illegal Mining
10 Feb
Summary
- NGT notices issued to Himachal govt over alleged illegal sand mining.
- Activist claims District Survey Report enabled rampant illegal operations.
- Petition highlights lack of scientific assessment and environmental degradation.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Himachal Pradesh government and its environmental departments following a petition challenging the District Survey Report (DSR) of 2024 for Una district. The petition alleges that this report has facilitated widespread illegal sand mining and stone-crushing activities.
Filed by Una-based activist Rohit Katwal, the plea seeks to invalidate the DSR, 2024, asserting it is largely a copy of the 2017 report and lacks realistic mineral potential calculations and mandatory scientific assessments. These shortcomings, according to the petition, have resulted in environmentally unsustainable mining practices in the district.
The petition details that the DSR, 2024, fails to document essential field surveys for replenishment rates and lacks a carrying capacity assessment for hill slope mining, a mandatory requirement. This omission undermines the credibility and environmental sustainability of the report, leading to severe degradation, including deforestation and wildlife displacement.
Despite numerous complaints with evidence submitted by the petitioner in 2025 regarding illegal mining, no action was taken by authorities. The petition also requests a comprehensive assessment of environmental harm and economic losses caused by unscientific and illegal mining activities since the adoption of the DSR, 2016.
