Ranchi: Chief Minister Hemant Soren today said that the state government will go in appeal against the order of the Green Tribunal regarding the sand mining in the state.
Speaking during a debate on the auction procession of sand ghats in the state and its implications after the lunch hour during the Winter session of the Assembly, the CM said, �Recently the Tribunal made it necessary to get environmental clearance for small minerals such as sand. This has led the state government to make amendments in the sand mining Act for making environmental clearance necessary for sand mining activities. Many other states have also gone to the Supreme Court against this decision of the Tribunal. The state government will also move the Apex Court for exemption from this binding condition once the vacations come to an end.�
The CM said some people had also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court, but the same was rejected by the HC. He said the HC order had made it clear that the state government had taken a right decision. He further said the state government had decided to hand over the responsibility of sand ghats to the panchayats. The bandobasti of the sand ghats will be cancelled and a decision will be taken accordingly, he said.
Soren said the government wanted to ensure that everyone worked legally in the state. He said now the government was in no mood to allow anyone to line their pockets in the sand mining activities. He said the issue of sand ghat bandobasti was sensitive and that the government wanted to solve the crisis. He said the house could give a decision on the sand issue in case its members were of the opinion that the house should take the final decision.
�The process of auction of sand ghats is not over yet. No tender has been given to anyone as yet. No agreement has been entered either. The rates have also not been fixed. Therefore no efforts should be made to mislead the people,� said the CM.
Earlier in the day, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha MLA Pradip Yadav led the argument on part of the Opposition and alleged that sand had become a precious commodity as a result of the faulty policies of the state government. He said a large number of people had been rendered jobless due to the sand crisis in the state. He said the Babulal Marandi-led government had decided to provide for free mining of sand in the state. But now the situation had turned dismal, he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and former Speaker of the Assembly CP Singh too, asked the government to take a prompt decision to solve the sand crisis as early as possible.