{"id":8832,"date":"2026-05-20T08:47:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/?p=8832"},"modified":"2026-05-20T08:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:47:37","slug":"sc-praises-rajasthans-efforts-to-curb-illegal-mining-says-state-can-set-national-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/sc-praises-rajasthans-efforts-to-curb-illegal-mining-says-state-can-set-national-example\/","title":{"rendered":"SC Praises Rajasthan\u2019s Efforts to Curb Illegal Mining, Says State Can Set National Example"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Delhi:<\/strong> The Supreme Court on Wednesday strongly appreciated the efforts being undertaken by the Rajasthan Government to curb illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and observed that the mechanism being developed by the State has the potential to become a \u201crole model\u201d for the entire country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the apex court made it clear that it would assess the State\u2019s performance on the basis of actual implementation and ground-level impact, and not merely on the basis of reports or affidavits filed before the Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The observations came during the hearing of the suo motu matter concerning illegal mining activities in the National Chambal Sanctuary and the resulting threat to endangered aquatic wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The matter was heard by a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearing for the Rajasthan Government, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati and Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma placed detailed compliance reports and informed the Court about the extensive steps being taken by the State administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior officials from various departments, including Home, Forest, Mines, Transport and Police, were also present during the hearing. The Bench interacted extensively with the officers regarding the measures being implemented to tackle illegal mining operations in the Chambal region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rajasthan Government informed the Court that immediately after the Supreme Court\u2019s May 14 order, the Chief Secretary convened a series of high-level meetings to ensure coordination between departments. Continuous review meetings involving the Home, Forest, Mining, Transport, Finance and Law Departments were thereafter conducted, leading to intensified enforcement action across affected districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State submitted that district-level task forces had already been constituted in the Chambal Sanctuary area and joint patrolling teams comprising officials from the Police, Forest, Mining, Transport and Revenue Departments had been deployed to monitor illegal activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special anti-mining drives are currently being carried out in Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Kota and Bundi districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the affidavit filed by the Forest Department, nearly 40 highly sensitive locations affected by illegal mining within the sanctuary area have been identified for installation of AI-enabled high-resolution CCTV surveillance systems. These cameras are proposed to be integrated with command centres and control rooms for real-time monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State Government further informed the Court that GPS tracking systems are being installed in tractors, dumpers, excavators and other vehicles linked to mining activities. The Mining Department stated that the process is underway in multiple districts and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Transport Department informed the Bench that GPS installation has already been made mandatory for mining vehicles in Dholpur district under a pilot project. Strict action, including seizure proceedings, would be initiated against vehicles found violating the directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its affidavit, the Home Department stated that continuous FIRs were being registered in cases related to illegal mining and transportation. Several arrests have been made and a large number of vehicles used in illegal operations have already been seized. The Police Department has also activated surveillance systems through dedicated monitoring centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Finance Department informed the Court that the Rajasthan Government has sanctioned nearly Rs. 65.47 crore for strengthening technology-based surveillance and enforcement infrastructure to curb illegal mining. Funds have also been approved for expanding CCTV networks, control rooms, enforcement vehicles and other monitoring facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the hearing, the Supreme Court observed that effective protection of forests and wildlife would not be possible without strengthening field-level staff. The Court directed the State Government to expedite recruitment against vacant posts of Forest Guards, Rangers and other forest personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking note of the detailed compliance reports submitted by the State Government, the apex court exempted the concerned officers from personal appearance in future hearings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court also appreciated the role played by Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma in assisting the Court and coordinating with various State departments for preparation and filing of comprehensive compliance affidavits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday strongly appreciated the efforts being undertaken by the Rajasthan Government to curb illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and observed that the mechanism being developed by the State has the potential to become a \u201crole model\u201d for the entire country. At the same time, the apex … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wppp_is_locked":false,"_wppp_selected_plans":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,29],"tags":[369,370,365,288,368,113,274,364,372,286,201,202,373,366,285,231,228,374,371,367,32,294],"class_list":["post-8832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supreme-court","category-top-stories","tag-ai-cctv-surveillance","tag-aishwarya-bhati","tag-bundi","tag-chambal-sanctuary","tag-dholpur","tag-environmental-law","tag-environmental-protection","tag-forest-department","tag-gps-tracking","tag-illegal-sand-mining","tag-justice-sandeep-mehta","tag-justice-vikram-nath","tag-karauli","tag-kota","tag-national-chambal-sanctuary","tag-rajasthan-government","tag-rajasthan-news","tag-sand-mining","tag-sawai-madhopur","tag-shiv-mangal-sharma","tag-supreme-court","tag-wildlife-protection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8834,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8832\/revisions\/8834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}