The illegal sand mining in Haryana seems to be rising
to new levels, with novel methods being employed. While unlawful quarrying
of sand on panchayat land has been the norm, it has now come to light that
owners of land located around rivers have been allowing sand to be illegally extracted
from their property at lucrative rates of up to Rs. 20 lakh per acre.
This trend of landowners having a piece of the pie is worrisome
as it makes illegal mining all the more difficult to curb. The rampant continuation
of the banned activity is as much reflective of100 the audacity of the locals as of the authorities’ inability
to prevent this open loot of a precious resource. Sand120 from riverbeds is being
dug out without permits throughout the State. Flagging the threat to riverine
biodiversity and the ecosystem of rivers, the National Green
Tribunal had in July ordered the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to take
action against officials who had failed to check unregulated sand mining
along the Yamuna belt. Such murky activities are
going on because of a deep criminal nexus between the mining mafia,
politicians and government officials. This must be checked. Small
players like200 tractor drivers who transport sand are being
caught, but little effort is being made to net the big fish or hold government
officials accountable for this incessant loot. This laxity is unforgivable.
The flora and fauna of the region are240 shrinking day
by day and the damage done so far cannot be reversed.
The Supreme Court has taken several initiatives this year
for reforming the justice delivery system. The most significant
one was aimed at reducing the pendency of cases as the country’s courts
are clogged with crores of lawsuits. Delayed justice is one of the main
grievances of the300 litigants and is often equated with denial of justice. Thus, it
is laudable that the Supreme Court disposed of 52,191 cases till 15th
December this year, an increase of 33 per cent compared to 2022, when 39,800
cases were decided. It is the highest number since the360 Integrated Case Management
Information System was launched in 2017. The Supreme Court harnessed technology
to achieve this feat. Strategic reforms, such as reducing the timeframe
for verification and listing of cases from 10 days to seven, helped the400 court set a new standard for
timely and efficient justice delivery. Giving primacy to personal liberty,
the Supreme Court ensured that matters such as bail, habeas corpus,
eviction and demolition were processed in one day and listed immediately.
Notably, for the first time, such proceedings were also
taken up during the summer vacation. Forming specialised Benches to handle
particular types of cases also proved effective in streamlining the process.
Some other key litigant-friendly interventions included the setting up
of480 a hybrid hearing
system, an RTI portal and the electronic version of Supreme Court reports,
which provides online access to500 thousands of judgments. The Supreme Court linkage with the
National Judicial Data Grid has enabled the tracking of cases on a real-time
basis, thus reducing opacity and increasing the judges’ accountability.
The high courts should take a leaf out of the Supreme Court book and
expedite trial proceedings.
In a report tabled in Parliament, the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Defence has expressed concern over the inordinate delay in
the supply of light combat aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
to the Indian Air Force. The panel has recommended that the government
should consider buying fifth-generation fighter aircraft over the600 counter so as to save time and keep
the force in a comfortable position. The committee has suggested this option in
view of the apparently slow progress being made to procure 114 multi-role
fighter aircraft. It was in April 2019 that the Indian Air Force had initiated
the process to acquire the MCFA at a cost of around $18 billion. Considering
the fact that India is wedged between two hostile neighbours, it is
imperative to keep the defence forces in a perpetual state of
combat readiness. Airpower has a key role to play in this700 regard, even as the Indian Air Force currently has 31 fighter aircraft
squadrons against the sanctioned strength of720 42. Fast-tracking of
procurements is a must to ensure that the fighting capabilities of Indian
Air Force are not compromised. Another cause for concern is the drop in the
share of research and development funds in the expenditure of the Defence
Research and Development Organisation. A higher budgetary allocation for
research and development is required to give an impetus to the ‘Make in
India’ initiative. The panel has also recommended that pragmatic targets
should be set for800 theaterisation of the armed forces. This
all-important integration, which envisages optimal utilisation of resources,
has already got inordinately delayed. A nation whose military is counted
among the most formidable ones in the world cannot afford to show
any laxity840 or apathy that can be exploited by the enemy.
Distilleries in Himachal Pradesh have
been releasing toxic effluents into water bodies, posing a threat to the health of
the local population and aquatic life. Though people have been protesting
against the hazardous practice and the state pollution control boards as
well as courts and the National Green Tribunal have pulled900 up the erring units, frequent
reports of the pungent, frothy industrial discharge
causing contamination raise baffling questions. The latest
report pertains to a private distillery, which has been accused of
dumping poisonous waste into a natural water source for the second
time this year. As a result, fearing the spread of diseases, the
system to draw water for the villagers’960 needs has been suspended. In January, many surrounding villages
had borne the brunt of the indiscriminate waste disposal and the plant
was closed for 10 days. Repeated non-compliance with pollution norms
reflects poorly on the management of the plants1000 as well as the law
enforcement authorities. The alleged contamination of underground water over
the years by an alcohol distillery unit has been most damaging to both
humans and cattle in Punjab’s Ferozepur district. It has been accused of
pumping untreated discharge into underground aquifers by reverse
boring. A committee looking into complaints by local residents had found toxic
substances and harmful chemicals in the water samples. The Chief
Minister had ordered the plant’s closure earlier this year. In
Haryana,1180 the Central Pollution Control Board had issued directions in
2019 for the monitoring of a Karnal distillery, whose1100 drain was suspected of emptying untreated
sewage into the Yamuna. The list goes on, but decisive action has largely
remained elusive.1121
