IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY NINETH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION NO : 9612 of 2008 Between: D. Appa Rao, S/o. Late D. Ramulu, Schedule Caste, R/o. Peddaveedhi, Yeleswaram Village and Mandal, East Godavari District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. By its Principal Secretary, Mines and Geology Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The Director of Mines and Geology, Hyderabad. 3 The Deputy Director of Mines and Geology, Kakinada, East Godavari District. 4 The Assistant Director of Mines and Geology, Rajahmundry, East Godavari District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an order, direction, writ more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 1st respondent not granting temporary Permit to the Petitioner to an extent of 0.50 Hc. In Survey No. 54 of Yeleswaram Village and Mandal, East Godavari District which is not situated within the radius of 500 mts safety Zone of Yeleswaram Reservoir Project as illegal, arbitrary, unjust and unconstitutional being violative of Article 14, 21 and 300-A of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents No.1 and 2 to grant temporary permit to the Petitioner to carry quarrying in 0.500 hects in Sy.No. 54 of Yeleswaram Village and Mandal, East Godavari Ditrict and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.C.SHANMUKHA RAO Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR MINES AND GEOLOGY The Court made the following : Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SPJS} O R D E R:- This writ petition is filed seeking a mandamus to declare the action of the 1st respondent in not granting temporary permit to the petitioner for quarrying road metal over an extent of Ac.0.50 hectares of land in S.No.54 of Yeleswaram Village situated within the radius of 500 mtrs from the safety zone of Yeleswaram Reservoir project, as arbitrary and illegal. The petitioner asserts that he and some others on 7.10.1997, applied for grant of Lease for quarrying road metal in an extent of Ac.0.50 hectares of land in S.No.54 situated in Yeleswaram village, East Godavari District, for a period of 10 years. Subsequently, the 3rd respondent-Deputy Director of Mines and Geology, by an order dated 29.8.1998, granted quarry lease in an extent of Ac.0.50 hectares of land in S.No.54 for a period of ten years. Later, the Irrigation Department protested against minor blasting operations and requested the Mines Department for cancellation of all leases. Then, the 4th respondent-Asst. Director of Mines and Geology and the Superintendent of Police, inspected the quarry lease areas on 23.4.2007. When the District Collector instructed the Executive Engineer to submit a detailed report on the issue, he submitted the report stating that damage will not occur within the radius of 500 mts. from the safety zone of Yeleswaram Reservoir Project, but however, opined to cancel the entire quarry lease in S.No.54. Based on the report, the 3rd respondent-Deputy Director of Mines and Geology issued proceedings cancelling the quarry lease. Then, the petitioner and others made several representations to the respondents for grant of lease. Now, the petitioner’s grievance is that based on the representations, the 2nd respondent-Director of Mines and Geology issued a Memo dated 4.4.2008 granting temporary permit to others in the area leaving 500 mts. safety zone for quarrying operations, but did not grant permit to him. Heard the learned counsel for both the parties and perused the material placed on record. The main contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the lease is in existence and the area in which the petitioner is carrying on crushing operations is at a distance of more than 500 square mts. and the said area is in a safer zone, but because of the reports of the 4th respondent-Asst. Director of Mines and Geology and the Superintendent of Police, the petitioner is not permitted to proceed with the quarry operations. In the light of the contention raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the respondents to permit the petitioner to proceed with the quarry operations, provided, it is not situated within the radius of 500 mts. from the safety zone of Yeleswaram Reservoir Project. With the above direction, this writ petition is disposed of. No costs. _______________ 29.04.2008 bcj