Mining and Environmental Law: Clearances, Sand and Riverbed Mining, Illegal Mining, Mine Closure and the Role of Courts and the NGT

Minerals built India's railways, power plants and cities, and critical minerals will power its energy transition. But mining is among the most environmentally destructive activities: it strips forests, displaces tribal communities, drains aquifers, pollutes rivers with tailings, scars hills and riverbeds, and leaves abandoned pits. Mining law in India is therefore a meeting point of mineral law (the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957) and environmental law (EIA, forest, wildlife and pollution laws), with the Supreme Court and the NGT acting as powerful supervisors after a series of illegal mining scandals in Goa, Karnataka and Odisha.

1. Mining and Environmental Law: The Framework

The legal framework has two layers:

• Mineral law: the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act), amended in 2015 (auctions, District Mineral Foundations, National Mineral Exploration Trust), 2021 and 2023 (critical and atomic minerals, exploration licences); the Mineral Concession Rules and Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017; State minor mineral concession rules; and the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002; and
• Environmental law: the EIA Notification, 2006, the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (forest clearance), the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (wildlife clearance), the Water and Air Acts (consent), the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (gram sabha consent), the Environment (Protection) Act and its guidelines for sand mining.

A mining lease is therefore not enough to mine. A lessee needs, in addition, an approved mining plan, environmental clearance, forest clearance if forest land is involved, wildlife clearance if near a protected area, and consent to establish and operate from the State Pollution Control Board.

2. Environmental Clearance for Mining

Mining of minerals is Item 1(a) of the Schedule to the EIA Notification, 2006. Larger leases are Category A (appraised by the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry), and smaller leases are Category B (appraised by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority). The process involves screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal, and the EC contains conditions on dust, water, overburden, green belts and reclamation. Expansion and renewal also require EC.

After Deepak Kumar, the Ministry amended the EIA Notification in 2016 to bring all mining of minor minerals within EIA, created district-level appraisal authorities for very small leases, and introduced cluster approaches. The NGT later scrutinised district-level appraisal, and the system has been restructured. Mining without EC is illegal and attracts closure, environmental compensation and recovery of the value of minerals.

3. Forest and Wildlife Clearances

3.1 Forest clearance for mining

Under Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, no State Government may permit use of forest land for any non-forest purpose, which includes mining, without the prior approval of the Central Government. The Forest Advisory Committee examines proposals; conditions include compensatory afforestation on equivalent non-forest land (or double degraded forest land), payment of net present value into the CAMPA fund, and reclamation. Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the rights of forest dwellers must be settled and the gram sabha's consent obtained before diversion, as held in Orissa Mining Corporation v. Ministry of Environment and Forest, (2013) 6 SCC 476 (the Niyamgiri case), where the Dongria Kondh gram sabhas rejected bauxite mining.

3.2 Wildlife clearance for mining

Under Sections 29 and 35(6) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, no person may destroy or damage wildlife habitat in a sanctuary or national park except under a permit, and only with the approval of the National Board for Wildlife. Projects in eco-sensitive zones around protected areas, or within ten kilometres where ESZs have not been notified, require consideration by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife.

3.3 Mining near protected areas and in forest areas

In Goa Foundation v. Union of India (orders of 2022 and 26 April 2023), the Supreme Court prohibited mining within one kilometre of the boundary of protected areas in Goa. On 13 November 2025, in In re Saranda Wildlife Sanctuary, a bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai extended this on a pan-India basis, holding that mining within a national park or wildlife sanctuary, and within one kilometre of its boundary, is not permissible, and directed Jharkhand to notify the Saranda forest, a sal forest rich in iron ore, as a wildlife sanctuary, while protecting forest rights and existing public facilities. Mining in forest areas outside protected areas remains possible only with forest clearance, gram sabha consent and strict conditions; the T.N. Godavarman case continues to supervise forest diversion.

4. Mining Plan, Mine Closure and Reclamation

4.1 Mining plan and environmental regulation

Under the MMDR Act and rules, a lessee must operate under a mining plan approved by the Indian Bureau of Mines (for major minerals) or the State (for minor minerals). The plan describes the geology, reserves, method of mining, production schedule, waste dumps, and environmental management measures, including progressive mine closure. The Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017 require lessees to take steps for protection of the environment: topsoil preservation, overburden management, prevention of air, water and noise pollution, control of ground vibration, and restoration of flora.

4.2 Mine closure plans

A mine closure plan has two parts: a progressive mine closure plan, implemented throughout the life of the mine (usually reviewed every five years), and a final mine closure plan, submitted before the mine closes, covering decommissioning, reclamation, rehabilitation of land, water management, safety of pits and dumps, and post-closure monitoring. The lessee must provide financial assurance (a bank guarantee) to ensure that the plan is implemented even if it defaults. The regulator releases the assurance only after certifying that closure is complete.

4.3 Mine reclamation

Reclamation means restoring mined land to a safe, stable and productive condition: backfilling pits, regrading and stabilising dumps, replacing topsoil, revegetating with native species, treating acid mine drainage, and converting pits into water bodies where suitable. The legal duty to reclaim flows from the mining plan, EC and forest clearance conditions, and the polluter pays principle. Abandoned mines without reclamation are a legacy problem in many States.

5. Minor Mineral, Sand and Riverbed Mining

5.1 Minor mineral mining

Minor minerals (defined in Section 3(e) of the MMDR Act) include building stones, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand and others notified by the Centre. Under Section 15, State Governments make rules for their concession and regulation. Because minor mineral leases are numerous, small and locally controlled, they are especially prone to illegal mining and weak environmental oversight, which is why Deepak Kumar brought them within EIA.

5.2 Sand mining and riverbed mining

Sand is the most extracted material in the world after water. Riverbed mining beyond the rate of natural replenishment lowers riverbeds, undermines bridges and embankments, lowers groundwater levels, destroys aquatic habitats (including gharial and turtle nesting sites), increases erosion and salinity, and affects agriculture. Unregulated sand mining is often run by powerful 'sand mafias' linked to violence against officials and journalists.

5.3 Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines and District Survey Reports

The Ministry of Environment issued the Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016 and the Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020. Their key features are:

1. a District Survey Report (DSR) for each district, prepared by a district-level committee, identifying areas where mining is permissible, the replenishment rate, prohibited stretches and quantities, and reviewed every five years; the DSR is the basis for EC;
2. replenishment studies so that extraction does not exceed natural deposition;
3. restrictions on mining depth, distance from bridges and embankments, and a ban on mining in the monsoon and at night;
4. mapping and monitoring with drones, satellite imagery, GPS on vehicles, weighbridges and CCTV, and online transport permits; and
5. district-level task forces to act against illegal mining.

The Supreme Court in State of Bihar v. Pawan Kumar (2022) insisted that EC for sand mining be based on a properly prepared and approved DSR following the guidelines, and the NGT has repeatedly set aside ECs based on defective or outdated DSRs.

6. Illegal Mining and Mining without Environmental Clearance

Illegal mining includes mining without a lease, beyond the leased area, beyond the permitted quantity, without EC or forest clearance, or in prohibited zones. Section 4 of the MMDR Act prohibits mining except under a lease; Section 21 penalises contraventions and, under Section 21(5), the State may recover the mineral raised without lawful authority or its price, together with rent and royalty. Section 23C empowers States to make rules to prevent illegal mining, transport and storage.

Other landmark cases include Samaj Parivartana Samudaya v. State of Karnataka, (2013) 8 SCC 154, where the Court categorised mines in Bellary according to the gravity of illegality, cancelled leases in the worst category, and required reclamation and rehabilitation plans funded by a special purpose vehicle; and Goa Foundation v. Union of India, (2014) 6 SCC 590, where it held that mining in Goa after the expiry of leases in 2007 was illegal, capped annual extraction, and created the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund. In Goa Foundation v. Sesa Sterlite, (2018) 4 SCC 218, it quashed the second renewal of Goa leases granted without fresh consideration.

7. Environmental Damage and Principles

7.1 Environmental damage from mining

Mining causes deforestation and habitat fragmentation; displacement of tribal and forest communities; air pollution from dust and blasting; water pollution from tailings, heavy metals and acid mine drainage; depletion of groundwater from pit dewatering; land degradation from overburden dumps; subsidence and fires in coalfields (as at Jharia); and health effects such as silicosis. The District Mineral Foundation (Section 9B, MMDR Act, 2015) collects a contribution from lessees for the welfare of mining-affected people and areas under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana.

7.2 Mining and the polluter pays principle

The polluter pays principle requires miners to bear the full cost of preventing, compensating and remediating environmental harm. Courts have applied it through recovery of the value of illegally mined ore (Common Cause), reclamation funds (Samaj Parivartana Samudaya), net present value and compensatory afforestation (Godavarman), and environmental compensation by the NGT.

7.3 Mining and intergenerational equity

Minerals are finite, non-renewable resources. The Supreme Court in Goa Foundation (2014) and later orders applied intergenerational equity: the State, as trustee of natural resources under the public trust doctrine, must ensure that the present generation does not exhaust them, and that part of the value is saved for future generations. This led to the idea of a permanent fund (like the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund) from mining revenues, on the model of sovereign wealth funds.

8. Mining and NGT Jurisdiction

Since the EPA (EIA Notification), the forest conservation law and the Water and Air Acts are in Schedule I of the NGT Act, the NGT has wide jurisdiction over mining. It hears appeals against ECs and forest clearances for mines, and original applications against illegal mining. It has: restrained sand mining without EC across States (2013 onwards); banned unscientific rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya (2014) and imposed Rs 100 crore on the State for failing to control it; required DSRs and replenishment studies; imposed environmental compensation for illegal stone crushing and mining in the Aravallis and elsewhere; and directed remediation of abandoned mines. Questions purely of mineral rights or lease terms under the MMDR Act, which is not in Schedule I, remain with the High Courts and civil forums.

9. Critical Appraisal

India has a comprehensive set of clearances for mining, but the history of Goa, Bellary and Odisha shows that clearances were often ignored while regulators looked away. The courts have imposed accountability through disgorgement of profits, reclamation funds and bans near protected areas. Challenges remain: the push for critical minerals and offshore mining; dilution of forest law in 2023; weak monitoring of sand mining; incomplete implementation of mine closure; and the rights of tribal communities. Sustainable mining requires transparent auctions, strict compliance monitoring, genuine community consent, full-cost pricing and a long-term view of mineral wealth as an intergenerational trust.

10. Related Topics and Provisions