NEWDELHI/HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to vacate the stay granted by the High Court on sand mining in the state.Dealing with a batch of special leave petitions, the apex court directed the state government to approach the ministry of environment and forests to get clearance for sand mining in accordance with the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) notification. The ministry has been directed to dispose of the applications filed by the state government to get clearance for sand mining in rivers in the state within three weeks.On February 27 it ruled that lease and renewal of minor mineral deposits in an area of less than five hectares be granted by the states/Union Territories only after getting environmental clearance from the ministry of environment and forests. Following the directions, the division bench of the High Court comprising chief justice Madan B Lokur and justice PV Sanjay Kumar, in its interim order on April 26, declined to modify its earlier order (stay on sand mining with effect from April 1) given on March 21. It granted liberty to the state government to approach the Supreme Court for modification of its order of February 27 for the state of Andhra Pradesh. The state pleaded before the SC that it had been losing revenue due to the ban, and that several schemes were facing financial crunch.
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