Yamuna illegal sand mining: NGT issues notice to bodies in suo motu case

The NGT has sought a response from authorities, including the district magistrates of north Delhi and Ghaziabad, over alleged instances of illegal sand mining in the River Yamuna floodplain

New Delhi: The NGT has sought a response from authorities, including the district magistrates of north Delhi and Ghaziabad, over alleged instances of illegal sand mining in the River Yamuna floodplain. A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel had taken a suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a newspaper report on the large-scale illegal mining in the floodplain between Alipur in north Delhi and Panchayara in Ghaziabad.

The district magistrates of north Delhi and Ghaziabad and the Lucknow regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, were impleaded as respondents in the case.

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) also impleaded member secretaries of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Central Pollution Control Board and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board. “Issue notice to the above respondents for filing their response/reply,” it said.

The news report indicated to the NGT that sand miners in the region were building makeshift roads across the river, which enabled them to transport excavators and carry out mining operations in the floodplain. The article further said these roads were often constructed by placing wooden planks and sandbags across the river bed, not authorised under any mining leases, and caused considerable damage to the river’s fragile ecosystem.

In its December 16 order, allegations of the river bank being “plundered by the sand mafia” and made susceptible to large-scale encroachment were noted by the NGT.

“The matter indicates a violation of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. The news item raises substantial issues relating to compliance with the environmental norms,” it said.

The matter was posted for hearing on April 14, 2025.