As all these Writ Petitions involve a common issue, they are taken up for consideration together and disposed by this common judgment.

2. In all these Writ Petitions, the petitioners are persons who are engaged in stone quarrying and crushing operations. It is not in dispute that they all hold quarrying leases/permits issued by the statutory authorities under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 read with the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015. It would appear that the petitioners had all approached the respective Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (either district level or State level) under the Environment (Protection) Act, Rules and Notifications issued there under, for the purposes of obtaining an Environmental Clearance certificate. The applications submitted by the petitioners were not considered/processed by the respective Environment Impact Assessment Authorities on the ground that there was an ambiguity with regard to whether or not the area, where the quarrying/crushing operations were proposed, fell within the ambit of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) as notified by the Central Government, in the Ministry of Environment