In a move to safeguard river ecology and the environment, the Rajasthan High Court has revoked the auction of 93 gravel mining leases in Bhilwara, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, and Ajmer districts. The court has instructed the state government to reimburse the leaseholders and provide a replenishment report for the leased areas over the last five years within four months.
Furthermore, the court has prohibited the initiation of new auctions for gravel leases until the replenishment report gains approval from the High Court or the Supreme Court. The ruling was made by a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Brijmohan Sapoot Kala Sanskriti Seva Sansthan.
Emphasizing the necessity for gravel mining leases to strictly adhere to environmental protections, the court has mandated that each mining area be divided into five sections, with specific parts designated for natural replenishment. The auction notices must explicitly outline these details. Representing the petitioner, Senior Advocate Kamlakar Sharma and Advocate Alankrita Sharma highlighted that auctions were ongoing in various areas across the mentioned districts.
They pointed out that several areas had been leased for gravel mining in violation of regulations stipulating a five-year gap between leases in the same area to allow ecological recovery. The court expressed concern that mining had already started in six of the 93 leased areas before the court’s intervention. The court’s decision underscores the importance of balancing development with environmental sustainability, especially in riverbed and gravel mining activities that directly impact groundwater levels and river ecosystems.
