VIJAYAWADA: Observing that illegal mining is taking place without any lease or licence at Madanapalle village in Kuppam Assembly constituency of Chittoor district, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the State government to file a detailed report along with relevant documents on or before May 26 after inspecting the site.
Hearing a petition on illegal quarrying or mining of granite in Survey Nos. 213 and 104 in Madanapalle on April 22, the NGT directed the Mining, Environment, Forest, Science and Technology departments and other respondents to file independent reports on the matter and posted the hearing to May 10.
Appearing on behalf of the Environment, Forest, Science and Technology departments, the counsel informed the NGT that a committee was constituted with the Chittoor District Collector, Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West), Regional Officer of the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) and Assistant Director of Mines and Geology to look into the matter.
The NGT felt that there was no necessity for the government to constitute a committee comprising all the departments as it would delay further action to be taken on the matter.
However, the fact remains that illegal mining is happening without any lease or license at Madanapalle. "Once again considering the urgency of the matter, we grant time for filing a detailed report by the government till May 26," the Green Tribunal bench stated and posted the matter to May 26.