Point of law: Any deviation noticed in this regard is strictly punishable and the Tahsildar and Mandal Parishad Development Officer, Chebrole are instructed to look after the excavation of Gravel and not to commit any irregularities in excavation of Gravel and not to commit any irregularities in excavation of Gravel

ORDER :

1. Inaction on the part of the respondents in taking any action with regard to the illegal quarrying and transportation of gravel in Sy. No. 310/2B, Sy. No. 7/6 admeasuring Ac. 42.00 cents and Ac. 7.07 cents, respectively, in Vadlamudi Village of Chebrolu Mandal, Guntur District, is subject matter of challenge in this present Public Interest Litigation, filed by one M. Nageswara Rao claiming himself to be a public spirited individual and concerned with the general public.

2. The gist of the facts are as under:

It is stated that the land referred to above is a government land and as per the entries in the adangal, the land is shown as water tank. The local leaders, in connivance with the officials of the Mining Department, started quarrying the red soil in several villages of Chebrolu Mandal and selling the same without obtaining any permission from the competent authorities. It is averred that by virtue of illegal excavation of gravel, the Government of Andhra Pradesh is not only losing royalty, but the same is causing ecological imbalance in the villages. The Counsel for the Petitioner placed on record certain photographs to show the alleged illegal quarrying and transportation of gravel. He claims to have made a representation to the authorities bringing to their notice the illegal quarrying, but to no avail. Hence, the present Public Interest Litigation came to be filed.

3. Counters came to be filed by all the respondents disputing the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the Writ Petition. In the counter filed by the respondent Nos. 1 and 5 on 13.8.2020, it has been stated that the Collector vide proceedings dated 14.02.2020 accorded permission for excavation of silt/earth/gravel from the government lands in Vadlamudi Tank and Vejendla Gram Panchayats, subject to payment of seigniorage fee, DMF and other taxes, if any, and also subject to the following conditions:

1. PD, DWMA shall place a responsible person for close monitoring on excavation and transportation of Silt/Earth/Gravel from the above gram panchayats.

2. PD, DWMA shall make a proper mechanism for accountability by way of issuing of slips/tokens for each vehicle carrying mineral showing the details of vehicles No. Quantity and place of unloading or destination.

3. Any deviation noticed in this regard is strictly punishable and the Tahsildar and Mandal Parishad Development Officer, Chebrole are instructed to look after the excavation of Gravel and not to commit any irregularities in excavation of Gravel and not to commit any irregularities in excavation of Gravel:

4. In paragraph No. 4 of the said counter, it has been stated that the Project Director, DWMA, Guntur, vide letter Rc. No. 168/2020/D, dated 15.02.2020, while enclosing the proceedings, dated 14.02.2020, of the Collector (PW), Guntur, addressed a letter to Mandal Parishad Development Officer, Chebrole, issuing instructions to take “Development of Housing Colony under Land Development Project in Community land” works under priority basis. It is stated that leveling of low lying house sites and formation of internal gravel roads in housing colonies works are permissible under MGNREGS and accordingly instructions were given to arrange two teams for close monitoring on excavation and transportation of gravel. Insofar as payment of royalty to the Government, the Assistant Director of Mines and Geology, Guntur, shall furnish details of the quantity of gravel excavated and transported from Vadlamudi and Vejendla villages for housing layouts and also collection of seigniorage fee, DMF and other taxes on the said quantity.

5. With regard to the representation made by the pet