J U D G M E N T
The petitioner seeks prohibition of the illegal quarrying operations carried on in private lands in Meenmuttypara in Alacode village. Though very many survey numbers have been pointed out, the 9threspondent who has lands comprised in survey number 9/1 of Alacode village alone is impleaded, and hence relief can be claimed, if at all, only against the said respondent. At the stage of admission it was directed that the the Geologist would ensure that the 9th respondent is carrying on a quarry with necessary sanctions and if not the operations would be stopped forthwith. Despite notice to the 9threspondent none appears.
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2. As of now for obtaining a quarrying permit an Environmental Clearance (EC) under the EIA notification of 2006 is imperative. The requirement for EC emanates from
Deepak Kumar v. State of Haryana [(2012) 4 SCC 629] and has been incorporated in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification No. 2006 (SO 1533 E) dated 14.09.2006 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change; by S.O No. 141 (E) dtd. 15.01.2016. The short-term permits issued by the Department of Geology, within the state of Kerala based on the provisions in the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules of 2015 (for brevity KMMC Rules), were found to be illegal by a Division Bench of this Court in All Kerala River Protection Council v. State of Kerala [2015 (2) KLT 78]. The SLP filed against the said judgment numbered as SLP 30103 of 2015 has also been dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Hence no quarrying can be carried out without
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In such circumstance, the writ petition would stand allowed making it clear that the 9threspondent cannot carry on quarry operations except with an EC, obtained from the District/State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, a valid permit obtained under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the KMMC Rules and a D&O license from the local authority.
Sd/-
K. VINOD CHANDRAN,
JUDGE
SB/16/12/2016 // true copy //// P.A to Judge