NGT directs UP govt to provide specialised healthcare in silica mining areas

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately provide specialised healthcare facilities in areas where private leaseholders conducted silica sand mining. The green body was hearing a plea on widespread illegal silica sand mining in pockets of Prayagraj district, including Shankargarh, Pervaizabad, Lalapur, Bankipur, Janwa and Dhara.

The petition claimed the unauthorised mining conducted without observing proper extraction mechanisms endangered people's health, causing various diseases including Silicosis, a long-term lung ailment triggered by inhaling large amounts of crystalline silica dust.

In an order dated November 29, a bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava directed 12 private leaseholders to pay compensation for violating environmental norms, while 14 of them were ordered to pay fines for the illegal extraction of groundwater at silica washing plants.

"The state of Uttar Pradesh and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) in consultation and coordination with the concerned departments shall take immediate steps to provide specialised healthcare facilities in the areas where silica sand mines are being operated by mining leaseholders," said the bench also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel.

The tribunal also directed the authorities concerned to immediately make arrangements for the "necessary medical infrastructure for prevention and treatment of the affected workers".

It also directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to prepare detailed guidelines which were to be followed and observed by the statutory regulators concerned while granting permission or consent for silica sand mining and silica sand washing plants.

"The CPCB shall look into this aspect of the matter, prepare detailed guidelines and circulate the same to all concerned, pan-India, within three months," the tribunal said.

Advocate Rohit Kumar Tuteja appeared before the tribunal on behalf of the petitioner.