NGT directs officials to stops illegal mining in Puthu lake
26 May, 2013
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the officials to ensure that there is no illegal sand quarrying in the Puthu lake in Tiruvallur of Tamilnadu. The order was issued following a reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act which revealed that permission to quarry was given only till September 29, 2012. The RTI applicant had claimed that one K Kanagaraj had been quarrying sand from the lake illegally. A complaint filed by him was closed by the Tahsildar of the area holding that no quarrying was being carried out.
The the southern bench of NGT said a prima facie case has been made out from the material placed before i. It termed illegal quarrying a “disaster” that causes “unimaginable” ill-effects to the environment and issued an interim injunction. The bench posted the matter for July 19 while directing the officials to stop illegal sand quarrying in the lake till further orders.