The Supreme Court on July 29 directed the suspension of all mining operations and transportation in an area admeasuring approximately 10,868 hectares in Bellary district of Karnataka till further orders. The Forest Bench, comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and Swatanter Kumar passed the order after perusing the report of the Central Empowered Committee that said “over-exploitation” of the area had caused large-scale environmental degradation.
The Bench said, “We are satisfied that, on account of over-exploitation, considerable damage has been done to the environment. We are taking a holistic view of the matter. We have suspended these operations keeping in mind the precautionary principle, which is the essence of Article 21 [right to life] of the Constitution.”
The Bench said the MoEF should also spell out “the total requirement of the steel industry in the country, how much is met by the Bellary mines. How much of the quantity of iron ore is domestically required and internationally exported?” The Court directed the MoEF to obtain this requisite information from the Ministries of Mines, Steel and Commerce.