Come with Alternate Site for Coal Mining: SC To Center

The Supreme Court issued a notice on the application moved by Advocate Aabir Phukan on the coal mining at Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary and directed Solicitor General who represented the Center, ASG Vikramjeet Banerjee to come out with a proposal for an alternative site in three weeks.

The top court said that saving the environment shouldnot come at the cost of economic development, adding that a balance should bestruck between the two.

The observation by the top court came on a plea filedby Phukan, seeking a ban on mining in the Saleki forest reserve, situated closeto the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.

Thearea falls in the elephant corridor and in this region, state-owned Coal IndianLimited (CIL) has obtained approval for mining from the standing committee ofthe National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in April this year.

However, Banerjee opposed the plea , claiming that the environmental impact had already been assessed by the NBWL.

Faced with conflicting positions, the bench of ChiefJustice of India (CJI) SA Bobde and justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roysaid, "We are conscious of the fact that our orders in favour of environmentaffect economic development adversely. There has to be some method by whicheconomic development is not retarded as this has a direct impact on poverty inthe country."

In the past, action taken by the court to protect the environment has faced criticism, for instance, its decision to ban diesel vehicles to curb air pollution.

Walkingthe tightrope, the bench said that it was aware of the constitutional duty toprotect the environment but at the same time, it cannot be oblivious to theeconomic impact.

The petitioner was asked to add North EasternCoalfields,a unit of Coal India, as a party to the case. The standing committeeof NBWL gave approval to North Eastern Coalfields on April 7 at a meetingconducted through videoconferencing.

The petition pointed out that on August 29, 2019, thestanding committee of NBWL had advised a cautious approach, suggesting that theviews of wildlife experts be to seek to assess the impact of the proposedmining in the elephant corridor, considering the area's rich biodiversity.

The petitioner claimed: "While several measures wouldbe warranted to create jobs and lift the economy, it is submitted that all suchmeasures should be premised on principles of sustainable developmenthighlighted time and again by this Court."