NHAI has clearance for sand mining at Perittivakkam lake, confirms SEIAA

Southern bench of the National Green Tribunal. File
| Photo Credit: M. Prabhu

The State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has informed the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had obtained prior environmental clearance for sand mining from Perittivakkam lake in Thiruvallur district as part of the six-lane highway construction from Chittoor to Thatchur in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under the Bharatmala Pariyojana project. 

The submission was made in a petition that has raised concerns over the legality of the mining activity. The applicant contended that the sand extraction from Perittivakkam lake was carried out without prior environmental clearance, violating the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. 

The applicant also referenced the Supreme Court’s judgment in Noble M. Paikada vs. Union of India (2024), which struck down certain exemptions under the EIA notification, specifically the clause allowing exemption for certain linear projects like highways from having to obtain clearance for sourcing earth.

In response, A.R. Rahul Nadh, the Member Secretary of SEIAA-Tamil Nadu, filed a submission clarifying that the NHAI had obtained the necessary EC for the highway project in question. The EC was granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on December 21, 2022, after a thorough review of the EIA and Environmental Management Plan. The mining activity, which was part of the project, was thus covered under this clearance.

Further, the District Collector of Tiruvallur had authorised the extraction of 20,000 cubic meters of ordinary earth from Perittivakkam lake for the highway construction, based on the technical approval from the Water Resources Department. The District Collector’s order included conditions that imposed specific safeguards and restrictions on the mining activity, and it was valid for a period of four months from February 2024.

Mr. Rahul stated that if illegal mining is occurring, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Geology and Mining or the District Collector, not the SEIAA. The matter has been posted on February 28 for hearing.