Lok Sabha Question No. 2340 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-13
Subject: Illegal Sand Mining
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ramdas Chandrabhanji Tadas

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2340

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2021

## Illegal Sand Mining

## 2340.   SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the large scale illegal sand mining occuring in the river beds of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, particularly in Maharashtra;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to regulate sand mining from rivers in the country; and
- (d) the details of complaints registered and action taken, in case of violation of Environmental Impact  Assessment  Notification,  2006,  in  the  country  State/UT-wise  and  district-wise details of Maharashtra State during the last three years?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b):  State Governments (Department of mines and Geology) are the nodal authority in the State for dealing with the allotment of mining leases under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 [MMDR Act] under the Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India. It is entrusted with enforcement and regulation of mining operations in their respective states including illegal mining.  Further,  the  State  Government  is  empowered  under  section  23  C  of  the  Mines  and Minerals (Development and regulation) Act 1957(MMDR Act) to make rules for prevention of illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals.

As reported by the Govt. of Maharashtra, details of illegal sand mining activity & action taken by district authorities are as follows:

|   S.No. | Year    |   No. of Cases reported |   Penalty recovered (Rupees in Lakh) |
|---------|---------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------|
|       1 | 2018-19 |                    1969 |                              1529.91 |
|       2 | 2019-20 |                    2253 |                              1881.33 |
|       3 | 2020-21 |                    2358 |                              1619.53 |

(c)  The  Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) has taken several steps to ensure observance of environmental safeguards during 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.

MoEF&CC has also issued 'Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining (EMGSM) 2020 supplemental to the existing guidelines i.e. Sustainable Sand Management Guidelines 2016, which  focuses  on  the  effective  monitoring  of  the  sand  mining,  from  the  identification  of  sand mineral  sources  to  its  dispatch  and  end-use  by  consumers  and  the  general  public.  Further,  this document  serves  as  a  guideline  for  collection  of  critical  information  for  enforcement  of  the regulatory provision(s) and it also highlights the essential infrastructural requirements necessary for  effective  monitoring  for  Sustainable  Sand  Mining  and  in  controlling  illegal  mining.  The Government  has  been  regularly  communicating  with  the  States  for  implementation  of  the EMGSM 2020. A national  level  interaction  was  also  convened  by  Ministry  on  09.07.2021  to review the status of implementation of the EMGSM 2020 and seek feedback on the same.

(d)  The  enforcement  of  various  legal  provisions  including  enforcement  of  guidelines  for sustainable  mining,  with  a  view  to  containing  the  menace  of  illegal  mining,  is  purely  in  the domain of the State Governments and UT's Administrations.

All  representations  received  regarding  illegal  mining  are  duly  forwarded  to  concerned State  Authorities  for  appropriate  action.  State-wise  details  of  representations  received  in  this regard are enclosed as Annexure-1.

Annexure-1 Annexure referred to in reply to paras (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No 2340 due for  reply  on  13.12.2021  w.r.t  complaints/representations  received  online  in  the  Ministry

## regarding illegal mining in last three years is as follows:

| Sl No   | State            |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 |
|---------|------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1.      | Andhra Pradesh   |      2 |      2 |      1 |
| 2.      | Assam            |      2 |      3 |      1 |
| 3.      | Bihar            |      1 |      1 |      4 |
| 4.      | Chhattisgarh     |      2 |      2 |      1 |
| 5.      | Delhi            |      1 |      2 |      0 |
| 6.      | Gujarat          |      0 |      6 |      2 |
| 7.      | Haryana          |      1 |      5 |      1 |
| 8.      | Himachal Pradesh |      2 |      0 |      1 |
| 9.      | Jharkhand        |      2 |      1 |      3 |
| 10.     | Karnataka        |      3 |      3 |      2 |
| 11.     | Kerala           |      1 |      9 |      2 |
| 12.     | Madhya Pradesh   |      4 |      0 |      2 |
| 13.     | Maharashtra      |      2 |      5 |      0 |
| 14.     | Odisha           |      3 |      2 |      2 |
| 15.     | Punjab           |      4 |      0 |      0 |
| 16.     | Rajasthan        |      7 |      5 |     10 |
| 17.     | Tamil Nadu       |      3 |      1 |      4 |
| 18.     | Telangana        |      3 |      2 |      0 |
| 19.     | Uttara Pradesh   |      2 |      7 |      1 |
| 20.     | Uttarakhand      |      7 |      1 |      2 |
| 21.     | West Bengal      |      0 |      0 |      1 |
|         | Total            |     52 |     57 |     40 |

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