Lok Sabha Question No. 5279 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-03
Subject: Extraction of Sand
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Brijendra Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5279

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.04.2023

## Extraction of Sand

## 5279.   SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any measures have been taken to prevent extraction of sand from the Yamuna riverbed and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the extraction has led to a decline in water levels of the river and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  to  conserve  river  systems  as  the  biodiversity depend upon them and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (c) Sand is a minor mineral and its mining including extraction from river is regulated in terms of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 [MMDR Act] and  the  Mineral  Concession  Rules  framed  by  the  concerned  State  Governments  /  Union Territories (UT) Administrations under section 15 of this Act. Moreover, Section 23C of the MMDR Act,  empowers  the  State  Governments  /  U.T  Administrations  to  make  rules  for preventing  illegal  mining,  transportation  and  storage  of  minerals  and  for  the  purposes connected  therewith  and  to  also  enforce  the  various  provisions  related  to  sustainable  sand mining guidelines.

The  Ministry  of  Environment  Forest  and  Climate  Change(MoEF&CC)  has  issued  the Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining in January, 2020, supplemental to Sustainable Sand Management Guidelines, 2016, to regulate the Sand Mining in the Country from  its  identification  to  its  final  end-use  by  the  consumers  and  the  general  public  and  to control the instance of illegal mining through IT-enabled services and latest technologies for surveillance  of  the  Sand  mining  at  each  step.This  document  serves  as  a  guideline  for collection of critical information including the water level and other environmental parameters for enforcement of the regulatory provision(s) and it also highlights the essential infrastructural requirements necessary for effective monitoring for Sustainable Sand Mining and to control illegal mining.

Further,  MoEF  &  CC  has  taken  several  steps  to  ensure  adherence  to  the  environmental safeguards due to mining of minerals. These include, inter-alia, mandating the requirement of

prior environmental clearance under the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, as amended from time to time. Baseline data generation forms a vital part of  the  Environment  Impact  Assessment  studies  for  the  projects  scheduled  in  the  EIA Notification  2006.  This  study  helps  in  evaluation  and  prediction  of  impacts  on  the  various environmental attributes in the study /project area by using scientifically developed & widely accepted  environmental  impact  methodology  which  covers  air  quality,  water,  noise,  land environment, ecology, biodiversity and socio-economic parameters.

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