Nainital, Jun 28 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the chairman of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to appear before it and sought to know the steps taken to protect the environment and reduce the harmful effects of soapstone mining in the Bageshwar district.
The direction was issued by a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra while hearing a PIL that complained of cracks appearing in houses in several villages of Kanda tehsil in the district.
The matter will now be heard by the high court on June 30.
The residents of Kanda tehsil had also sent a letter to the chief justice claiming that illegal soapstone mining had destroyed their farmlands, homes, and water pipelines.
There are 147 soapstone mines in the area in which heavy digging machinery is used for mining, leading to cracks developing on the walls and ceilings of houses in the neighbouring villages.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the letter, the high court had earlier put a stay on soapstone mining in the region and directed the firms to fill the pits caused by their mining activities. It had also granted permission for auctioning the mined soapstone deposits.
On the earlier direction to fill the pits caused by mining, the district mining officer informed the high court that the Uttarakhand Groundwater Authority had been appointed to undertake the task.
However, the petitioner claimed that such an authority has not even been constituted.
On this, the court stated that in the matter of filling the pits, the district mining officer and a groundwater expert nominated by the irrigation secretary will carry out the work, which will be monitored in the presence of the Central Ground Water Board and the Geological Survey of India.