IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 23.04.2010 CORAM: THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE PRABHA SRIDEVAN and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.P.S.JANARTHANA RAJA Writ Petition No.35769 of 2007 A.Chidhambaram .. Petitioner vs. 1.The District Collector Dharmapuri District Dharmapuri 2.The Executive Engineer Public Works Department Dharmapuri Dharmapuri District 3.The Assistant Director Mines and Minerals Department Dharmapuri Dharmapuri District 4.Chinnaru Dam Project Turn Irrigation System Farmers council C.R.P.-2 rep. By its President G.Srinivasan (Regd.No.134/2006) 5.Chinnaru Dam Project Turn Irrigation System Farmer council C.R.P.-3, rep. By its President R.Palaniappan (regd.No.42/2007) R4 and R5 impleaded as per order dated 23.7.09 by PSDJ & CTSJ in M.P.1/08 in WP 35769/07 ..Respondents Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of Mandamus directing the respondents herein to pass necessary orders preventing sand quarry in Chinnaru @ Sanathkumaranathi between Chinnaru Dam and Marandahalli area to save the agricultural operations and directing water supply resources in the area. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ For petitioner : Mr.P.Mani For respondents : Mr.K.Balasubramanian, Special Government Pleader (for R1 to R3) Mr.N.E.A.Dinesh (for R4 and R5) ORDER (Order of the Court was made by PRABHA SRIDEVAN,J.) This is a public interest litigation on behalf of the villagers of Marandahalli, Samanur, Athimutlu and Koravandahalli Villages, Palacode Taluk, Dharmapuri District. They want the rampant sand quarrying to be stopped. 2. The riverbed between Panchapalli to Marandahalli Town Panchayat is used for supply of drinking water. The main beneficiaries are (i)Papparapatti Town Panchayat (ii)Dharmapuri Municipality (iii)M.Chettyhalli and 11 other Villages Integrated Drinking Water Scheme (iv)Samanur Village Integrated Drinking Water Scheme (v)Marandahalli Town Panchayat Integrated Drinking Water Scheme. Coconut cultivation is being done in each area for which water is required. Cash crops are also grown. According to the petitioner, sand in the said river between Chinnaru Dam and Marandahalli is being illegally lifted and the revenue authorities are not taking any steps. 3. The petitioner states that the following are the damages caused by the illegal lifting of sand in the said river: (i)The water level in the area went down and the farmers are disabled to carry on the agricultural operations because of water scarcity. (ii)Since the water level went down the coconut trees have become withered and the coconut production has been seriously affected. (iii)The sources of drinking water dried up and there is serious water scarcity in important towns and villages such as Dharmapuri, Palacode, Marandahalli, Paparapatti, M.Chettihalli, Samanur etc., (iv)Serious damage is being caused to patta lands by way of soil erosion because of excessive removal of sand upto the ridges of the patta lands and the agriculturists are put to irreparable loss. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ (v)Over bridges and flood prevention bridges constructed across the said river are extensively damaged and collapsed seriously affecting road traffic. (vi)The entire agricultural operations have been seriously affected because of water scarcity and change of environments. (vii)Free flow of water is affected and sufficient water did not reach the irrigation tanks and dams during the rainy season. (viii)The entire Marandahalli area became a desert as the production of coconuts, areca nuts and cashew nuts are seriously affected. Therefore, the petitioners pray for a mandamus preventing sand quarrying in Chinnaru @ Sanathkumaranathi between Chinnaru Dam and Marandahalli area to save the agricultural operations and to protect the drinking water supply resources in the area. 4. To get expert opinion on the effects of sand quarrying we requested Dr.M.Arunachalam, Professor & Head i/c, Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Sciences Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Alwarkurichi, to file a report. He has filed a comprehensive report which is excellant and would be very useful even to Courts in cases where there are allegations of environmental damage to wet lands. "This report is intended to provide an assessment of sand/gravel mining impact on the river ecosystem and the land use pattern including the riparian zone and the corridor of agricultural lands through an analysis of sites in the stream/river section from the Marandahalli Anicut to Chinnar Reservoil. Also, this report is intended to asesses the riparian habitats and the corriodors along the stretches of river below the reservoir are mainly used for agricultural practices of coconut and arecanut farming, rice/paddy cultivation and plantain cultivation. Extraction of gravel/sand from a stream alters the sand/sediment budget creating the potential for channel instability, increased turbidity and degradation habitats. Chinnar river takes its original from a wetland system called Thalli lake or Thalli Big Tank (old British system of calling irrigation reservoirs). Channel wide excavation results in complete loss of channel complexity and low flow channel confinement. Instream mining results in removal of gravel/sand from the stream reach thereby lowering the average elevation. Even using extraction from bars leaving the head will lower the interior downstream part of the bar surface, as depositional zone unnaturally. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ CHANNEL INCISION: a) Channel instability b) Infrastructure damage Direct effects of incision include undermining of brige piers (Bull and scote 1974, Parsons Brickerhoff Gore and Storrie, 1994; Kondolf and Swanson, 1993, Rempel and Church, 2009, Kondolf et al., 2002, Mossa and Autin, 1998) and other structure and exposure of buried pipeline corssings and water supply facilities (Lehre et al., 1993, Marcus, 1992). Infrastructure structure damage such as wells in Marandahalli anicut and the major bridge, Athimuttulu are the classic examples in the assessed sites. c) Ground water effects d) Bedcoarsening and fining e) Hyporheic zone effects f) Cumulative effects The deleterious impact of instream gravel/sand mining may be considered as cumulative because the effects from one mine will interact with those of other mines which yield a net cumulative effect not apparent from a single mine." The report has recorded that there are biological impacts of instream gravel/sand mining and the assessment based on sand mining inventory from Marandahalli Anicut to Chinnar reservoir has also been described (as supported by photo plates). There is bank erosion. There is bed coarsening of instream due to gravel/sand mining etc. The recommendations of the expert are extracted hereunder : "The river system under assessment is small because it has a small flood plain and terraces and the disturbances made are more critical. The availability of sand deposits is little or devoid of gravel/sand in some of the sites studied. An annual average deposition rate of sediment in relation to the transport would be very small as the system is highly impounded(dammed) The buffer zone (land between the riparian bank(vegetation) are used for agricultural purposes (mostly coconut and arecanut farms)and both the right and left banks in almost all the stretches of stream studied between Marandahalli anicut to Chinnar reservoir are highly damaged. Stream/river undercut, channel incision, river lowering (evident by secondary confinement) watertable lowering are identified all along the sites. Undermining in the stream bed led to the damage of infrastrutures like check-dam, wells in instream channel (mid of river bed) and bridges. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Cumulative effects of gravel/sand extraction from Maradahalli anicut to Chinnar reservoir are: river diversions/impoundments, flood control projects and the land use disturbances in the above watershed clearly indicates that the system needs some resilience time to restore its original condition atleast partially without any further man-induced alterations." 5. Thereafter, we directed the registry to issue copies of the report to the Secretary, Public Works Departments, the Secretary, Environment and Forest Sciences Department and the Secretary, Revenue Department. We also requested the Secretaries to sit together and discuss the report. 6. An Advocate Commissioner was also appointed to carryout the inspection at 10.00 a.m. on 29.12.2007. He has filed his report. They contain the following recommendations: "1. Since it appears that sand mining has been carried on unabated on several stretches of the river and it is possible that there is no sand left for being mined today, sand quarrying on the river bed may be permitted to go on but subject to rigorous safeguards and the Deputy Director (Geology and Mines) and the concerned Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Water Resources Organisation (WRO) inspecting the spot today and undertaking that there has been no illicit quarrying carried out and that there are sand deposits available in the areas where permission for quarrying has been granted by the District Collector. 2. Sufficient staff must be deputed to the P.W.D., WRO Dharmapuri to properly monitor the situation in the river bed. 3. The Police must be directed to act promptly upon complaints made by the PWD and the general public about illegal mining and transport of sand. 4. The District Collector, the Deputy Director (Mines), the PWD the concerned local bodies and the Police should jointly review the condition at the quarry site every fortnignt. 5. The abandoned quarry sites must be remediated. 6. Wherever patta lands have been quarried without obtaining proper permission, action may be initiated against the land owners. 7. In view of the fact that there has been infrastructural damages such as the Marandahalli- Panchappalli via Attimutu Perianur Causeway, special https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ attention must be bestowed to the protection of such infrastructure during quarrying operation to ensure that these are not threatened by unauthorised quarrying." 7. Now the Secretary, Environment and Forests Department has filed his counter which states as follows: "Sand Budget: In-channel or near-channel sand and gravel mining, changes the sediment budget and may result in substantial changes in the channel hydraulics. These interventions can have variable effects on aquatic habitat, depending on the magnitude and frequency of the disturbance, mining methods, particle size, characteristics of the sediment, the characteristics of riparian vegetation and the magnitude and frequencyof hydraulic events following the disturbance. Riparian Habitat, Flora and Fauna: In stream mining can have other effects beyond immediate mine sites. Many hectares of fertile stream side lands are lost as well as valuable timber resources and wildlife habitat in the riparian areas. Degraded stream habitats result in lost of fisheries productivity, biodiversity and recreational potential. Severely degraded channels may lower land and aesthetic values. Anthropogenic activities that artificially lower stream bed elevation cause bed in instabilities that result in a net release of sediment in the local vicinity. Stability of Structures : Sand and gravel mining in stream channels can damage the structures such as bridge piers and expose buried pipeline and other infrastructures. Channel incision not only cause vertical instability in the channel bed, but also causes lateral instability in the form of accelerated stram bank erosion and channel widening. Ground Water: In stream mining lowers the elevation of stream flow and the flood plain water table. Therefore, the ground water table drops leaving the drinking water wells on the embankments of these rivers dry. Water quality: In stream sand mining activities will have an impact upon the river's water quality(ie) increased short term turbidity at the mining site due to resuspension of sediment, sedimentation due to stockpiling and dumping of excess mining materials, organic particulate matter, oil spills or leakage from excavation machinery and transport https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ vehicles. The impact is particularly significant if water users downstream of the site are abtracting water for domestic use. Suspended solids can significantly increase water treatment costs. The study report 'Assessment of Chinnar River and the alleged damage to agricultural lands by sand mining' clearly focus on the above environmental issues and the Chinnar river system needs atleast five years to restore and hence sand and gravel mining should not be carried out." It is clearly acknowledged in the counter that the Chinnaru river needs atleast five years to be restored and that the sand and gravel mining shall not be carried out. 8. This issue has not cropped up for the first time. In W.P.Nos.10632/1998 and 837/1999, the learned single Judge of this Court while dealing with the Tamilnadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules and the specific clause in the agreement prohibiting the use of machineries for quarrying sand has issued the following directions: " In one of the directive principles of State policy, namely Article 48-A, the Constitution mandated the State to take endeavour to protect the environment and to safeguard the forest and wild life of the country. The protection of environment includes the protection of the rivers and forests. The Supreme Court, in HINDSTONE'S case, has held "rivers, forests, minerals and such other resources constitute a nation's natural wealth. These resources are not to be frittered away and exhausted by any one generation. Every generation owes a duty to all the succeeding generations to develop and conserve the natural resources of the nation in the best possible way. It is in the interest of mankind. It is in the interest of the nation." In Mukthi Sangharsh's case referred to above, the Supreme Court held that there should be a check to balance the preservation of natural gift and social consumption in such a way that the water source would not be affected. Sand is a natural formation on the river beds through the natural process over tens and thousands of years. They sustain the rivers and percolation of water to far off distances both for the growth of trees to sustain drinking water and raise cultivation. It is almost a lifeline to the human existence. Without considering the precise gift provided by nature, commercial exploitation for short term gains by pumping out the sand indiscriminately from the rivers will destroy not only the river, but also the whole environment. It is common knowledge that by virtue of commercialisation, the pattadars on the adjoining river beds take out leases on the plea of sand formation in their lands and encroach and take sand from the river beds taking advantage of leases granted in the rivers itself. People employ huge machineries like cranes and other pumping mechanism through which they suck out the sand within few https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ days which has been formed over centuries. This leads to the depletion, destruction and whole natural beauty of the river, apart from causing untold natural calamities and loss to the society. Therefore, in order to maintain the existing balance in the river bed, the Government should make arrangements and provisions to see that the removal of sand is regulated and proper measures are taken. In our neighbouring State of Kerala, there was a report submitted by Senior Environmental Engineer referred to in a judgment reported in CHANDRASEKHARAN PILLAI VS. STATE OF KERALA (1998 (2) K.L.J. 195). On the question whether the extraction of sand causes environmental degration, it was stated as follows:- "The extraction of sand will cause environmental degration such as : (a)This will spoil the normal gradient (slope) of the river bed and thereby affect the self-clearing velocity of the river. (b)This will give chances to the accumulation of silt and dirts and affects water quality. (c)Reduces ground water table during summer, and causes drinking water shortage. (d)Land slide on river banks. (e)Affects the water management structures, bridges, retaining walls etc." 17. Taking into account the Constitutional mandate and the imperative necessity of preserving of river and consideration required for the grant of quarry leases for sand, I direct the State Government to immediately take the following measures :- (1) To clearly define the river bank and fix permanent marks so as to enable the clear determination of the river bank on either side in reference to all the rivers in Tamil Nadu where quarrying sand is permitted or atleast the portions over which quarrying is permitted. (2) To specify the normal sand bed level for the respective rivers and after such demarcation, to mark the level with some permanent benchmark on the river bank for the purpose of quarrying. (3) To ban the removal or extraction of sand from such rivers where the present sand bed level is below the required level as fixed by the State. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ (4) To form a river management committee or an action committee by the District Collector or the Tahsildar with the cooperation of voluntary agencies so as to ensure that sand is being collected in strict compliance with the restriction laid down by the authorities and the rules and the lease deeds. The wastes and impurities especially those from the septic tanks should not be permitted to open into the rivers. (5) The encroachments are to be prohibited and existing encroachments are to be evicted summarily from the river beds. (6) The Forest Department is to give special priority in conservation of forests at the origination point of the rivers." In spite of this, we fail to understand why public interest litigations have to be filed to protect the Ecology. 9. The Principal Secretary, Public Works Department has adopted the affidavit filed by the Principal Secretary to Government, Environment and Forests Department. 10. The Writ Petition is disposed of recording the statements made by the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department and the Principal Secretary to Government, Environment and Forests Department with the following directions: " No sand and gravel mining will be carried out in Chinnaru river for the next 5 years between Chinnara dam and Marandahalli area. The Public Works Department and the police shall monitor the river and see that there is no illegal mining and transport of sand. They shall act promptly upon any complaint made in this regard, the directions of this Court shall be adhered to implicitly." No costs. Sd/ Asst.Registrar /true copy/ Sub Asst.Registrar sal https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ To 1.The District Collector Dharmapuri District Dharmapuri 2.The Executive Engineer Public Works Department Dharmapuri Dharmapuri District 3.The Assistant Director Mines and Minerals Department Dharmapuri Dharmapuri District 4.Chinnaru Dam Project Turn Irrigation System Formers council C.R.P.-2 rep. By its President G.Srinivasan (Regd.No.134/2006) 5.Chinnaru Dam Project Turn Irrigation System Former council C.R.P.-3, rep. By its President R.Palaniappan (regd.No.42/2007) 1 cc To The Government Pleader, SR.27280. W.P.No.35769/2007 TRM(CO) RVL 25.05.2010 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/