SC Pulls Up Rajasthan Government Over Illegal Sand Mining In Chambal Sanctuary

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed several senior Rajasthan government officials to appear before it on May 20 over inadequate compliance with its earlier orders to curb illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, while criticising the state’s handling of the issue.

According to PTI, the court said Rajasthan’s conduct reflected “administrative apathy and institutional paralysis” in addressing illegal mining activities, environmental degradation and threats to protected wildlife habitats within the sanctuary.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order in a suo motu case titled In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife.

The bench directed the additional chief secretary of the home department and principal secretaries of the mining and geology, finance, forest, environment and climate change, and transport and road safety departments of Rajasthan to remain personally present before the court on May 20.

“The aforesaid officers shall also file comprehensive individual compliance affidavits placing on record the steps undertaken in furtherance of the directions issued by this court vide orders dated April 2, 2026 and April 17, 2026, as well as the present order, together with the timelines within which the remaining measures proposed to be undertaken shall be fully implemented,” the bench said.

The National Chambal Sanctuary, also known as the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400 sq km protected area spread across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Located along the Chambal river near the tri-junction of the three states, it was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and is jointly administered by the three states.

Besides the endangered gharial, the sanctuary is home to species including the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.

Reported PTI, the bench also directed the principal secretary of the transport and road safety department of Madhya Pradesh to remain personally present at the next hearing along with a detailed affidavit concerning vehicles allegedly involved in mining and transportation activities operating without number plates.

“The affidavit shall, inter alia, disclose the enforcement measures undertaken to identify and prevent the operation of unregistered and unidentified vehicles involved in mining and transportation activities; the steps taken to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989...,” the court said.

The affidavit must also disclose action initiated against erring officials and violators, if any, along with further corrective and preventive measures proposed within a definite timeline, the bench added.

PTI reported that the court also impleaded the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as a party respondent in the matter.

The bench directed NHAI to file a detailed affidavit on measures undertaken or proposed to safeguard the structural integrity and security of a bridge connecting Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan near the Morena-Dholpur border amid continuing illegal mining activities in the area.

“The affidavit shall also indicate as to why this court should not direct the National Highways Authority of India to install appropriate CCTV surveillance and monitoring mechanisms on and around the said bridge so as to ensure effective real-time monitoring of illegal mining and transportation activities,” the bench said while posting the matter for hearing on May 20.

On April 17, the Supreme Court had directed the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to install CCTV cameras on routes frequently used for illegal sand mining operations, saying the court could not remain a “silent spectator”, according to PTI.

In Thursday’s order, the bench noted that when the matter was heard on May 11, only Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh had filed compliance affidavits in response to the court’s April 2 and April 17 directions.

“In stark contrast to the steps reportedly undertaken by the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, we are compelled to express our serious displeasure at the manner in which the state of Rajasthan has conducted itself in the present proceedings,” the bench said.

The court observed that despite the identification of 40 vulnerable locations in Rajasthan, only one CCTV camera had been installed and no control room or live monitoring mechanism had been established.

The bench also noted that the Central Empowered Committee had described Rajasthan’s compliance status as being “largely at proposal/implementation stage”.

It said the situation reflected “a shocking degree of administrative apathy and institutional paralysis in the face of continuing illegal mining activities carried out in an organised and brazen manner in protected forest conservation areas, resulting in grave ecological degradation and a complete failure to uphold the rule of law and the constitutional mandate of environmental protection”.

(With inputs from PTI)