High Court sore over illegal sand mining in TS, AP

Hyderabad: The High Court at Hyderabad has expressed anguish at the illegal sand mining being carried out in two Telugu States and wondered whether this short-sighted pursuit of money will seriously hamper future generations livelihood.

If it was Krishna river earlier, now even Godavari river is being subjected to illegal sand mining, it observed. It stressed the need for fixing of river boundaries to prevent illegal sand mining.

It directed the authorities to ensure that no sand mining is allowed to be carried out for a period of two weeks on the banks of Godavari in Mulakala Lanka village in East Godavari district. It also wanted the authorities to clarify whether the ongoing mining operations is in river bank lands by filing an affidavit.

The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K Vijayalakshmi gave these directions on Tuesday while hearing two PIL petitions filed by M Veera Venkat Srinivas.

In the other petition, the petitioner contended that the Respondents, after obtaining permission for carrying out mining in Survey No. 205 of Vangalapudi village under Seethanagaram mandal in East Godavari district, were actually carrying out mining in other survey numbers.

The bench directed the East Godavari Principal District Judge to depute a senior judicial officer to visit the site and submit a report. It also directed that no mining operation must be done using heavy machinery in river bank lands, as mandated by National Green Tribunal in its judgments.