Unicaus NEWS
Filed by Nandakumar Waman Pawar, a 63-year-old environmental activist, and Bhagawan Walku Waraghada, a 30-year-old tribal resident of Chinchavli, the Special Leave Petition (SLP) contends that the Bombay High Court’s order, whereas acknowledging environmental violations, failed to make sure significant accountability or restitution for the harm attributable to over 17 years of unlawful mining and blasting contained in the Matheran Eco-Sensitive Zone (MESZ).
The petition urges the apex courtroom to uphold the “polluter pays” precept beneath the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and argues that financial penalties imposed beneath the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC) can not exchange obligatory environmental compensation, ecological restoration, or deterrent sanctions wanted to forestall future violations.
For practically 20 years, tribal residents of Chinchavli have lived beneath a cloud of mud, noise of explosives used to blast rocks as rampant quarrying scarred the hills, contaminated the air and water, and triggered a number of well being issues. Earlier this 12 months, on January 19, 2025, The Hindu had reported on the long-standing mining exercise and its toll on the village, drawing consideration to the human and ecological prices.
On July 1, 2025, the Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra authorities to get better ₹ 10,71,44,926 for extra excavation beneath a mining lease and ₹ 1,79,58,61,032 for unlawful mining past the permissible space from a non-public quarry operator in Chinchavli village, situated within the ecologically delicate Ambernath area of Thane district.
While dismissing the PIL on grounds of delay—the quarry lease was initially granted on August 25, 2009 — the courtroom famous that penalty proceedings had already addressed the petitioner’s core grievance. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V. Marne, directed the authorities to get better the dues until stayed by a reliable courtroom.
The judgment additionally acknowledged satellite tv for pc imagery and survey information exhibiting mining past the permitted 4 hectares, with exercise reportedly extending to 9.88 hectares. It directed the Konkan Divisional Commissioner, who heads the Matheran Eco-Sensitive Zone monitoring committee, to file an affidavit on additional violations.
“The Collector shall take acceptable motion for restoration of the royalty in addition to penalty for extra excavation carried out by Respondent No.8. This would nonetheless be topic to any problem raised by Respondent to the penalty orders. The PIL Petition is accordingly disposed of,” the Bench mentioned.
Mr. Pawar mentioned, “Though the High Court acknowledged these findings, it refused to adjudicate on pleas in search of cancellation of quarry lease, environmental remediation, compensation to villagers, and accountability of regulatory authorities, stating that the Collector’s restoration motion was adequate. Due to lack of governance and monitoring by authorities companies, environmental degradation and air pollution violations stay unchecked and proceed throughout a lot of Maharashtra. The authorities can be dropping a big income by unpaid royalties.”
The petition contends that unlawful mining in an eco-sensitive zone requires a definite set of cures beneath the Environment Protection Act, 1986, together with: full ecological restoration of the mined panorama; evaluation and restoration of environmental compensation; and a court-monitored investigation into regulatory complicity; and cancellation of the quarry lease and working permits.
Mr. Waraghada mentioned, “By declining to rule on these pleas, the High Court has precluded the opportunity of future redress beneath the precept of constructive res judicata, thereby closing the door on every other discussion board analyzing the problem. This is the rationale we’re submitting this petition within the Supreme Court.”
“This is not only a case of extra mining however a systemic failure of environmental governance,” the petition learn, including that the residents’ basic rights to a secure and wholesome surroundings have been violated.
The MESZ, notified in 2003 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, prohibits quarrying and industrial actions within the buffer zone surrounding the Matheran hill station to protect its fragile ecosystem.
Despite this, the quarry in Chinchavli has been operational since at the very least 2009, with repeated renewals of the mining lease, and approvals granted for mining plans and air pollution management consents. Residents allege that a number of authorities our bodies — together with the Revenue Department, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and Directorate of Geology and Mining — allowed these operations regardless of understanding that the location fell inside the MESZ.
In July 2024, the Ambernath Tehsildar issued a stop-work order in opposition to the quarry, citing public security dangers and environmental harm, primarily based on floor reviews and complaints from villagers. An Electronic Total Station (ETS) survey later confirmed large-scale unlawful extraction past the lease boundaries.
Residents, a lot of whom stay inside just a few hundred metres of the quarry, mentioned the each day blasting and stone crushing had triggered structural cracks in properties; noise and dirt air pollution; disruption of water sources; danger of landslides as a consequence of hill-cutting and wildlife disturbance and lack of inexperienced cowl.
“We’ve been elevating complaints since 2015. But nobody listened till the PIL,” mentioned Mr. Waraghada, whose household lives in Chinchavli for 3 generations. “Now the High Court says the case is over. But what about us? What in regards to the land and forest that’s gone?” he requested.
The petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to: put aside the Bombay High Court’s order; direct quick environmental restoration of the affected space; mandate restoration of environmental compensation over and above mining dues; order a judicially monitored probe into approvals and oversight failures; and keep any additional mining exercise on the website throughout the pendency of proceedings.
The petition additionally urged the Court to put down binding instructions to forestall mining exercise in eco-sensitive zones throughout the nation, citing the necessity for a systemic response.
