Sanction must under MMDR Act, says HC

SHILLONG, May 6: The High Court of Meghalaya has directed the state government to ensure that no extraction of limestone is permitted without appropriate sanction under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
The court issued the order after hearing a PIL on Friday.
The state government had filed an action taken report. The Advocate General submitted that several amendments have been made to the Meghalaya Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2016 to plug the loopholes that existed.
The petitioner said there is no letup in the illegal mining of limestone although the state government has no authority to grant permission for limestone quarrying since it is a major mineral. He argued that only in exceptional cases when limestone is used in kilns for manufacturing lime as building material that it would be regarded as a minor mineral.
According to the petitioner, based on permits/permissions issued/granted by the state government, influential persons are carrying out regular businesses, selling limestone to parties in Bangladesh, cement companies in Meghalaya and nearby states.
The court said since the allegation of limestone being extracted and openly sold with the State’s permission has not been squarely levelled in the original petition, it will be open to the petitioner to use a supplementary affidavit to indicate the petitioner’s perception as to the present position in such regard.
“In the meantime, whether or not the loopholes have been plugged as submitted by the State, the State should ensure that no extraction of limestone is permitted without obtaining appropriate sanction under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957,” the court ordered.