Considering the deleterious impact of indiscriminate river bed mining on flora and fauna as well as on human habitats, it is not advisable to vest State governments with any leeway at all, observed the Supreme Court while striking down the law that confers leeway on Sate governments from Central environmental clearance on leases up to five acres.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest had exempted lease of lands of less than five hectares from the central environmental clearance requirement provided two such lands were separated by a distance of at least one km. This leeway obviously has been handy for those adept at splitting.
This is what the apex court found to its consternation while examining a petition by Deepak Kumar against the State of Haryana recently. By taking care to grant leases of not more than five acres and separating each such quarry by a kilometre, the State governments were thumbing their noses at the Centre as well as at environmental concerns.
(The author is a New Delhi-based chartered accountant.)