Should co’s Yamuna mining lease be cancelled? NGT seeks report from Ghaziabad authorities

Ghaziabad: The National Green Tribunal has directed the state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA) and the Ghaziabad district magistrate to examine whether the environmental clearance granted to a company mining sand on the Yamuna riverbed near Loni be cancelled, following repeated allegations of violation of mining norms.A 3-quorum comprising Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, A. Senthil Vel, and Afroz Ahmad, in an order dated May 18, said the authorities have to take the decision after taking into consideration 23 incidents of illegal mining.The matter was brought to the NGT by a resident of Pachyara village, Bittu, who alleged the company, New Panther Security Guard Services, was mining sand beyond the area leased to them. “I had filed the complaint in 2023, seeking cancellation of the company’s environmental clearance because of mining violations. Apart from overmining, they have also used mechanised and semi-mechanised machinery in riverbed mining. I had also submitted video and photographic evidence to support,” he said.NGT directed the authorities to probe into the allegations and take appropriate action after hearing both the applicant and the company.An official from the Ghaziabad administration meanwhile said fines of Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh had been imposed on the violators. While the company appealed against the action in the Supreme Court, it was referred back to the NGT again.We will shortly file a report before the tribunal on whether to withdraw environmental clearance. In Panchayara, which has a 12-hectare riverbank area, 8 hectares have been legally allocated for mining for a five-year term to lessee,” said the official.The NGT took suo motu cognisance of an article published in TOI, titled “How sand miners laid road across Yamuna between Delhi and Ghaziabad” on Nov 30, 2024.The NGT, on Nov 20, 2025, formed a joint committee comprising representatives of the central pollution control board, the environment ministry, and the commission for air quality management. The committee was asked to probe the claims.In its Dec 19 report, it made several incriminating observations on the state of illegal sand mining, especially in Ghaziabad’s Navraspur area in Loni.