JUDGMENT

1. This matter relates to illegal sand mining taking place near Tondavali and Talashil Village in Kalvali Creek of Gad River, Sindhudurg District- Maharashtra. These Villages are located between Arabian Sea and Gad River. Due to rise in sea level and soil erosion due to sand mining, the width of the Village land has reduced to about 50-70 mtrs. On this small piece of land, approximately 200 houses are situated with around 250 families residing there. In Talashil Village, a population of around 1000 people mostly depending on fishing for their livelihood resides, which is adversely impacted by cyclones, hurricanes and high tides. The illegal mining is being resorted to which is causing huge erosion and threat to villages from flooding. The sand mining is said to be conducted completely in disregard to environmental norms and in violation of the provisions of the District Survey Report (DSR) of Sindhudurg District which prohibits mining in the light of EIA Notification, 2006, the CRZ Notification, 2011 and the directions of this Tribunal as well as various Hon’ble High Courts and the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

2. Therefore, prayer is made in the present application moved under Section 14, 15 read with Section 20 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for direction to be issued to the District Mining Officer not to allot sand mining leases in violation of the District Survey Report (DSR) in District Sindhudurg and Respondent No. 1 to 5 be directed to take immediate steps to stop illegal and unscientific mining in the area. Further, Respondent No. 1 be directed to take proper steps for protection of the villages from soil erosion and for restoration of the area to its original position and protecting the village and its agricultural fields from ingress of saline water.

3. This application was received on 04.03.2022 and vide order dated 15.03.2022, a joint committee was constituted to visit the place and submit a factual and action taken report. The said report has been submitted which is reproduced herein below for the sake of convenience:-

“Preamble:

The Original Application No. 23/2022 is filed before the Hon‟ble National Green Tribunal, Pune by Mr. Sanjay Chandrakant Keluskar versus State of Maharashtra & Ors. The issue raised in the application is about illegal sand mining taking place near Talashil and Tondavali village in the Kalvali Creek of Gad River, Sindhudurg District of Maharashtra, located between Arabian Sea and Gad River. Hon‟ble NGT has passed an Order, dated 15.3.2022, calling for a report from the Joint Committee consisting of (i) District Collector, Sindhudurg (ii) Representative of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) (iii) Representative of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). The Committee is directed to visit the place and submit a factual and action taken report within six weeks. The SEIAA will be nodal agency for coordination and logistic support.

Site inspection:

The Joint Committee comprising (i) Mr. Shankar Barge, Additional District Collector, Sindhudurg (ii) Mr. Pankaj Joshi, Expert Member, SEIAA as Representative of SEIAA 3) Mr. Rupesh Mahale, Project Officer, as Representative of Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) visited the stretch of Kalvali Creek at Talashil and Tondavali villages, Sindhdurg District on 24^th May, 2022.

Prior to the site visit, the Joint Committee took a meeting at Grampanchayat, Tondavali with concerned officials from the Govt offices such as District Collector, Sindhduerg, District Mining Officer, Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), Fisheries Dept, Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA). For the said meeting, at the Sarpanch‟s office, Tondavali, local residents were also present. Various issues as stipulated in the Order of the Hon‟ble High Court were deliberated in the said meeting.

Observations and Recommendations of the Joint Committee:

1. The Joint Committee noted that as per the Approved Coastal Zone Manag