THE most significant judgment that I obtained this year was from the High Court of Bombay at Goa on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to halt the continuance of illegal sand mining from Goa’s rivers.
Goa has a large number of rivers that traverse its landscape, and which have become the target of the construction industry ever since the extraction of sand from the open beaches has gone strictly out of bounds. The booming construction industry badly needs sand to continue its business. The result: full-scale illegal extraction of sand, day and night, from all of Goa's rivers, leading to the collapse of the river banks in several areas and large-scale loss of fertile agricultural properties of people residing along the river banks.
A PIL was filed in 2018 on the subject of illegal sand mining and after considering the suggestions of the petitioner and respondents, the court drew up a charter for the directorate of mines, the department of transport and the police to follow in order to halt the illegal sand mining activity.
