HC allows mining activities in 3 dists

Chandigarh: In a respite to the Punjab government, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday permitted the state to carry out mining activities in Pathankot, Rupnagar and Fazilka districts.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha passed these interim orders while accepting the request made by the Punjab government. The copy of the order was not available till the filing of this report. However, Vinod Ghai, advocate general (AG) of Punjab, confirmed the interim relief.
In its application submitted to the court, the Punjab government sought directions to permit mining activities in view of shortage of material being used in construction work. On this, the court permitted the state to carry out mining activities in three districts. The court passed the orders after the counsel representing the state government told the HC that district survey reports (DSRs) regarding these three districts had been approved by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
The case would now come up for hearing on January 23.
In its plea, the Punjab government had submitted that there is scarcity of minor minerals, especially the building material leading to escalation of prices. It was emphasized that this is a separate cause of action, where the challenge is to the order dated November 21, 2022, passed by SEIAA restraining the state from carrying out mining activities. According to the state, it was a non-speaking order.