NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court said that mining should not be done anywhere in the environmentally sensitive area around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The order of the court is a clarification of the buffer zone order of April 26.
Mining should not be allowed in any environmentally sensitive area around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. If the eco-sensitive zone is within one kilometer, no mining will be allowed up to one kilometer. A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai said that if the environmentally sensitive zone is more than one kilometer in any particular case, no mining will be allowed within one kilometer there as well.
This is in an application filed seeking clarification on the ruling banning mining. The court was approached by the contractor, who had obtained mining permission, seeking the possibility of mining in the area 2.26 km from the boundary of the Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra. The court dismissed the application stating that mining in environmentally sensitive areas is a prohibited activity and will not be allowed.
Mining should not be allowed within one kilometer of protected forest, and in eco-sensitive zones. This proposal is for the protection of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The Supreme Court also stated that this is to prevent the mines from becoming a death trap for the flora and fauna of the region.
In the landmark Goa Foundation case judgment of 21 April 2014, it was directed that no mining should be done in a one-kilometer area around the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Goa. In the verdict of last April 26, that proposal was applied to the entire country. The court has now made it more clear and said that the verdict is the final word on the ban on mining.