High Court order to check mining in Assam

The Gauhati High court on Monday asked the Assam government to set up a mines and mineral task force battalion to check illegal mining and prevent further degradation of rivers and ecology.

The order was issued on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Congress MLA and leader of the Oppositon Debabrat Saikia in 2018. Saikia had filed another PIL this year seeking steps to check mining in the Dikhow river, one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra with origins in neighbouring Nagaland.

The court also asked the state government to set up a high-level committee to study and recommend measures for the preservation of the fragile ecosystem of the river.

In the PIL in 2018, Saikia had complained that illegal and unscientific mining in the riverbed posed a threat to the ecology of the river system, safety of bridges, and led to aggravated erosion and affected fish and other aquatic lives.

The river, with its origin in Zunheboto district of Nagaland, flows through Sivasagar district in eastern Assam.

Syed Burhabur Rahman, Saikia advocate, told DH that a bench comprising Chief Justice Ajai Lamba and Justice A M Bujorbaruah ordered that the battalion be formed within three months, while disposing of the PIL.

The battalion will be formed under the administrative control of the mines and minerals department for timely and independent action to prevent illegal mining within the state of Assam, he said.

The bench ordered that the high-level committee be formed by the government to study and recommend measures for preservation of the fragile ecosystem of Dikhow river.

The members of the committee may comprise representatives from the water resource department, mines and mineral department, revenue and disaster management department, home and political department, soil conservation department, Pollution Control Board of Assam and environment and forest department.

The Gauhati High court on Monday asked the Assam government to set up a mines and mineral task force battalion to check illegal mining and prevent further degradation of rivers and ecology.

The order was issued on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Congress MLA and leader of the Oppositon Debabrat Saikia in 2018. Saikia had filed another PIL this year seeking steps to check mining in the Dikhow river, one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra with origins in neighbouring Nagaland.

The court also asked the state government to set up a high-level committee to study and recommend measures for the preservation of the fragile ecosystem of the river.