Haryana: NGT bans building temporary bridges on Yamuna for mining

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, March 1

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has barred Haryana from allowing the construction of temporary bridges by mining contractors across the Yamuna for sand mining.

The directions came in a case where the Haryana Government’s policy, dated October 19, 2021, for allowing such bridges across the river is under challenge.

During a resumed hearing in the case on February 23, the NGT said, “Section 20 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, inter alia mandates this tribunal to apply the precautionary principle. In view thereof, it is ordered that no further permission for the construction of any temporary bridge across river Yamuna for facilitating any sand mining and allied activities be granted.”

The NGT further said that the presence of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the Ministry of Jal Shakti was essential for the just and proper decision of the questions involved in the case. “Accordingly, the MoEF&CC and the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, are ordered to be impleaded as respondents…,” added the NGT.

Earlier, in 2022, a Sonepat resident, Vikas Kumar, had approached the NGT against M/s Yodha Mines, alleging that the natural flow of the Yamuna had been diverted by constructing an illegal bridge. During the proceedings, Haryana’s policy for allowing temporary bridges for mining also came under scanner.

Commissioner and Secretary to the Haryana Government, Irrigation and Water Resources, Pankaj Agarwal, has submitted before the Tribunal, vide a written reply, dated January 30, that their policy “does not permit any type of construction in the entire breadth of the river except only in between creeks developed due to the natural flow of the river”.

Giving a background of their policy, he told the tribunal that after a request from mining contractors, it was decided at a meeting with Haryana CM on August 20, 2020, that the mining operations in the river-bed areas require the crossing over of the river channel to access different areas included in the mining block and the “irrigation department may undertake the construction of appropriate structures” required for the crossing over of the excavators’ transport vehicles etc.

During further deliberations on the issue on February 9, 2021, where officials of the Mining Department, Haryana State Pollution Control Board and the Irrigation Department were present, the CM observed that the construction of the crossover points by the Irrigation Department takes a long time and the utility of such points at a delayed period becomes null.

Sonepat resident had moved tribunal

In 2022, a Sonepat resident, Vikas Kumar, had approached the NGT, alleging that the natural flow of the Yamuna had been diverted by constructing an illegal bridge. During the proceedings, Haryana’s policy for allowing temporary bridges for mining came under scanner