PNS | NAINITAL
Ordering that the use of heavy machinery for mining on riverbeds is banned, the Uttarakhand High Court has directed that such work should be done manually. The court also directed the State government to submit its reply within four weeks. The division bench of acting chief justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and justice Vivek Bharti Sharma issued this direction while hearing a public interest litigation challenging the permission granted by the State government on use of heavy machinery for mining in the Suswa and another river in the Doiwala area of Dehradun.
According to the case details, Dehradun resident Virendra Kumar had filed the PIL in the HC stating that the State government had granted permission for the use of heavy machinery for mining in the Suswa and another river in the Doiwala area of Dehradun district. The petitioner stated that the use of heavy machinery for mining has resulted in lowering the level of water in the river. In addition to this, his arable land is also getting affected. He is unable to get water even for irrigation. Apart from this, the petitioner contended that the use of heavy machinery for mining is rendering the local people without work.
Earlier, the locals used to get work mining on the riverbed but they have been rendered jobless since the government granted permission for the use of heavy machinery for mining work, the petitioner stated. The PIL requests the court to impose a ban on the use of heavy machinery for mining in addition to measures for protecting his arable land and according priority to the local residents instead of machinery in mining work.
The counsel representing the government stated that considerable quantities of silt, debris and boulders end up in the river during the monsoon. This results in altering the course of the river. Machiners instead of manpower are needed for the task of clearing the channel of the river. Considering this, the government had granted permission for the use of machines in public interest to maintain the unrestricted flow of the river, the government counsel said.
