National Green Tribunal : Builders May Challenge Sand Mining Ban..!

Builders are planning to challenge the order of the National Green Tribunal that stayed all sand mining activities in riverbeds without environmental clearance, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) said on recently. The ban, say developers, will aid in black marketing, give a fillip to the sand mafia &  increase property prices.


Mr. Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman, CREDAI, said, "The ban on sand mining adds to the ever increasing burden on the real estate industry.  It is shocking that NGT thinks sand mining causes floods in rivers. Silting, on the contrary, allows free flow of rivers & prevents floods"

Developers / promoters argue that sand is one of the most essential inputs for any construction & without proper availability projects across India will suffer.

"The cost of sand is going up and it has become more attractive to black marketers," says Mr. Sushil Mantri, Managing Director, Mantri Developers. Planners, while issuing building permissions, must assess the requirement of material like sand or metal, says CREDAI.


The environmental tribunal gave its interim order on recntly on a petition filed by the National Green Tribunal Bar Association after the suspension of IAS officer Ms. Durga Shakti Nagpal by the UP government. The officer had initiated a drive against illegal sand mining in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh.


"This removal of minerals from river beds is causing serious threat to the flow of the river, forests upon river bank & most seriously to the environment of these areas," the order said, adding that "besides violations of law, the mining activity is being carried out on a large scale, causing the state revenue loss which may be running into lacs of crores of rupees." 

Share: