The new revised Sand Mining Policy unveiled by the Maharashtra government seeks to empower the Gram Panchayat Sarpanch making him super-powerful. At the same time the new policy has incorporated so many conditions that it virtually puts the licensee into so many shackles of conditions that it makes sand dredging impossible.
In dealing with another major issue related to sand mining, that of attacks on government and revenue officials over illegal sand mining, the new revised policy provides for application of the provisions of The Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Dangerous Persons and Video Pirates Act, 1981 (MPDA). Environmental violations shall be dealt with under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The Ministries of Revenue and Forest which has issued the Government Resolution (GR) on September 3, 2019 points fingers at the directives issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2016 to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) in framing sustainable sand mining guidelines and the state governments assurance given to the Bombay High Court in a public interest litigation for bringing out revised sand mining policy.
The new revised policy gives the Gram Sabha a share in the highest bid amount in the auction of the sand mining blocks, if it grants No Objection Certificate (NoC) for sand mining in the area under its jurisdiction. The share amount ranges between Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 60 lakhs. The Gram Panchayat has been empowered to object to any illegal dredging of sand. The Gram Panchayat shall report any illegal sand mining to the Tehsildar and District Collector, any fudging of records, vehicle passes by the licensee. A vigilance committee headed by the village Sarpanch shall keep a watch on any acts of illegal sand mining.
On the other hand the licensee has to assess the quality of the sand, deposit 20 percent of the upset price to ensure compliance, has to properly demarcate the sand mining site, has to dredge sand using manual methods and has to do it during day time. The licensee has to bear the cost of installing CCTv cameras at the dredging site and sand depots. The licensee has to periodically submit a CD of the CCTv footage of the sand mining activity to the district collector and divisional commissioner.
Besides this the licensee has to ensure that no damage is caused to the local environment and rights of the local villagers. The licensee has to submit a monthly report of sand mining before 10th of every month to the government. Further, the licensee has to ensure that no damage is caused to local property, if it does occur the licensee shall have to bear the repair cost.
In the GR, the government argues that the revised sand mining policy seeks to maintain environmental balance, ensure local development and peoples participation, protecting traditional methods of sand mining, greater transparency in auctioning of sand mining blocks and checking illegal sand mining.
The GR makes the concurrence of the local Gram Sabha mandatory to allow sand mining in its vicinity. If the local Gram Panchayat gives its NoC then only it shall be eligible for a share in the highest bid amount in the auction. Such an amount shall exclude the royalty. For bid amount of up to Rs 1 crore, 25 percent of the auction amount will be given to the gram panchayat, for amount ranging between Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, 20 percent of the amount or minimum of Rs 25 lakhs; for amount ranging between Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore, 15 percent of the amount or minimum of Rs 40 lakhs; and for amount of Rs 5 crore and above, 10 percent of the amount or minimum of Rs 60 lakhs.
The licensee shall have to seek the environment clearance before beginning sand mining and it is mandatory upon him to maintain a mining plan. The sand mining license awarded to the licensee shall be valid for five years from its date of approval and shall be non-transferable. The licensee cannot dredge for sand more than three meters below the water flow table in the river bed and creek basin. No sand mining shall be allowed within 600 meters of rail or road bridges and 100 meters of Kolhapur Type (KT) Weirs. The licensee has to also take care that the water table in the nearby wells does not go down during sand mining activity
If that is not enough the licensee cannot use heavy vehicles and will have to only use tractors and trailer trollies with covered hoods to transport sand. The vehicle so used shall have a unique color for identification purposes and bar code. The licensee shall have to use that only road earmarked for transport of sand. If the licensee dredges sand beyond the permissible limits then he could be black-listed. Any violation of the conditions will attract penalties based on the existing market rates of sand mining which shall be fixed in January every year.
