Stone quarrying: Maharashtra yet to decide if hills can be cut

MUMBAI: The state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA) will decide whether to allow hills to be cut for stone quarrying.

The state environment assessment committee (SEAC) has not recommended environment clearance for four proposals in Thane district for cutting hills. While recommending other proposals for clearance, it insisted that "until detailed rules for stone/murrum (clay soil) quarries are issued by the state government, quarrying shall be restricted to the area already under operation". It went on to state, "There shall be no horizontal expansion. In case of hills, only deepening an existing operation is allowed.''

While seeking to restrict quarrying from the environmental impact point of view, it passed recommendations against new quarrying proposals, mining on areas less than one hectare, and any horizontal expansion of operations.

The Supreme Court (SC) made it mandatory to obtain environmental clearance for mining of minor minerals, even on land less than five hectares. Hence, all proposals have to be scrutinized by SEAC and approved by SEIAA.

"SEAC is only a recommendatory body and SEIAA will take a final call,'' said Valsa Nair Singh, secretary, environment.

The authority over-ruled an SEAC recommendation not to allow mining in areas less than one hectare. It said the SC directives do not make any distinction with regard to size of land. "If environment clearance is restricted to areas above one hectare, practically no quarries will operate in certain talukas and will deprive rural areas of traditional means of livelihood and employment,'' SEIAA said.

SEAC, while opposing mining on areas less than one hectare, said the operator would not be able to implement good mining practices for environmental protection as it would not be economically viable or technically feasible. It also believed that it was impossible for one district mining officer to monitor compliance given the multiplicity of sites.