Faulty district survey reports delayed environmental clearance for mining, says Punjab mining department report

The mining department says faulty district survey reports (DSRs) were prepared by a private firm which has been blacklisted

The mining department has blamed faulty district survey reports (DSRs), prepared by a private consultant, for the delay in obtaining environmental clearance for gravel and sand mining causing huge losses to the state’s exchequer. The environmental clearances are granted after the approval of the DSR by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).

The report further said that this caused a huge loss, amounting to crores of rupees in revenue to the state government and stalled the mining work in Pathankot and Ropar for more than one and a half years.

The report further said that this caused a huge loss, amounting to crores of rupees in revenue to the state government and stalled the mining work in Pathankot and Ropar for more than one and a half years. As per data from the state mining department, Pathankot and Ropar districts contribute almost 80% of revenue from the sale of gravel in the state.

“Due to this error, the DSR of Pathankot district, which was approved on 27 December 2022 by SEIAA, needed rectification. The rectified DSR was subsequently approved on 3 October 2023. The erroneous survey conducted by M/s RSP Green Development and Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. has caused significant delays in obtaining environmental clearances for mines and subsequent delays in their operationalization, resulting in substantial losses to the state exchequer,” reads the order issued by Executive Engineer Pathankot.

The stalling of the mining operations led to a spike in the prices of sand and gravel in Punjab. As per the report, private consultant M/s RSP Green Development and Laboratories Pvt. Ltd, was meant to submit DSRs in 2022 to pave the way for crucial environmental clearance (EC) for mining operations. However, inaccuracies in DSRs led to a cascading series of delays, resulting in the closure of mining sites. Consequently, SEIAA directed the department to rectify the DSR report.

The Punjab mining department has blacklisted the private firm responsible for the faulty DSRs. The blacklisting orders issued by the executive engineer acknowledge the loss of revenue.

According to official communications, the DSR submitted in August 2022 was found faulty, and the revised DSR submitted to the SEIAA was approved in October 2023. “However, mining operations have not yet commenced as the final step for environmental clearance is pending, which will take at least a month,” a mining department official said.

“The mining sites of Pathankot and Ropar remained closed for a year due to delays in obtaining environmental clearance (EC) in the absence of a DSR report of mining sites in the district. It resulted in a huge loss of crores of rupees during this period, exceeding ₹150 crore,” admitted an official.

Akash Aggarwal, XEN Mining, Pathankot, stated that following clearance from top officials, he has not only rectified the DSR and got it approved by SEIAA but also blacklisted the firm.

“Now, our focus is on making mining sites operational so that people can have easy access to sand and mining materials,” he said, adding that mining operations would commence in the next few days.