New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set up an independent five-member committee to check alleged illegal mining at Swan river in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district.
The five-members committee will be headed by a former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Jasbir Singh, while regional officers of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research Institute, Dehradun and the Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla with the Regional Officer, MoEF&CC, Chandigarh will be nodal agency.
The NGT’s three-member bench headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and members Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and Dr. Nagin Nanda issued the order for setting up the five-member committee while hearing an application filed by one Amandeep.
Earlier, an applicant has alleged of rampant illegal sand mining under the political patronage from the bed of the Swan river in an unscientific manner from the river. Applicant had alleged that the unscientific mining of sand from river was causing constant danger to the river and its channelization, while district administration has reduced to mere spectators.
Meanwhile, adjourning the hearing for May 10, the NGT stated that the committee may visit the site and give an independent report of facts found and remedial action required. The green court has also directed the state Pollution Control Board (PCB) and Una district magistrate to provide logistic support to the panel.
