HC seeks report on illegal sand mining in coastal areas

The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought a report on illegal sand mining operations in coastal districts of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and neighbouring Navi Mumbai area. A bunch of PILs, including the one filed by city-based NGO Janhit Manch, has alleged that illegal sand mining is being carried out in several areas of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Navi Mumbai. In Navi Mumbai's CBD Belapur area, state environment minister Ganesh Naik owns some of the mining units, the Janhit petition has alleged. All these activities are going on in Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) where mining is expressly prohibited, Janhit's lawyer Rahul Thakur said. However, government pleader Pradip Patil said that sand mining in CRZ areas has been stopped completely. Since Thakur challenged this, division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and D Y Chandrachud appointed a local lawyer as 'court commissioner' to find out whether sand dredging was underway in Navi Mumbai. In Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, court directed respective Chief Judicial Magistrates to visit spots where mining was allegedly underway and submit a report within four weeks.

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