The record
Written from the 1 report below. Nothing here is unsourced.
- A Supreme Court-appointed expert body, the Central Empowered Committee, has reported that the crackdown on illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary is hampered because most of the sanctuary is revenue and private land rather than notified forest land, so forest officials lack seizure powers under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in those areas.
- The court, hearing a case prompted by news reports including one on degraded gharial nesting sites in the Chambal, indicated that revenue land within the sanctuary should be converted to forest land and reserved its orders, posting the matter to August 4.
- The committee also recommended that Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh give legal protection to forest staff who confront armed sand miners, and suggested filling guard vacancies, funding surveillance and improving inter-state coordination.
- It further proposed widening the case to create a uniform national framework for regulating sand mining around protected areas.
What to watch next
- The Supreme Court's orders expected on August 4 on transferring sanctuary revenue land to the forest department
- Whether the three states extend prosecution protection to forest officers within the three months suggested by the CEC
- Whether the court expands the petition to frame a uniform national framework against illegal sand mining
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Named India · Madhya Pradesh · National Chambal Sanctuary · Rajasthan · Uttar Pradesh · Central Empowered Committee · Forest Department · Madhya Pradesh Government · Nikhil Goel · Rupali Samuel · Sandeep Mehta · Supreme Court · SV Raju
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