ELKO PROPERTIES AND DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. DISTRICT GEOLOGIST, DEPARTMENT OF MINING AND GEOLOGY AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has approached this Court aggrieved by the refusal on the part of the respondents to accept Ext.P2 application preferred by the petitioner for a quarrying permit, as also an application for issuance of transit passes, so as to extract ordinary earth. It is the case of the petitioner that the application is not being accepted by the respondents citing the necessity of an environmental clearance certificate for carrying on the aforesaid activities. It is pointed out that the petitioner has obtained Ext.P1 building permit from the Chiyyaram Village, Thrissur Taluk, for the purposes of constructing a building, and in connection with the said construction, he has to remove earth from his land, which he then has to transport to a place outside his property. It is in this connection that he had approached the respondents for the issuance of necessary transit passes, and the said application was refused to be accepted, on the ground that the petitioner would require an environmental clearance certificate.

(2.) I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner as also the learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.

(3.) On a consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case as also the submissions made across the bar, I find from a perusal of the relevant notifications under the Environment Protection Act and Rules as also the provisions of the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015, that, for the purposes of the instant writ petition, the activity of mining incidental to the construction of a building is regulated by two sets of laws; (i) under the Environment Protection Act and Rules and (ii) by the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and Rules. As per the notification dated 14.09.2006 of the Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, any project involving the building and construction up to an extent of 20,000M2, is not required to get a prior environmental clearance. By an express provision in Appendix XI to the said notification, it is clearly indicated that for the activity of digging a foundation, for buildings that are exempted from the requirement of prior environmental clearance, there is an exemption provided from obtaining prior environmental clearance. Under Rule 14(1) of the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2015, a quarrying permit is envisaged for extraction of ordinary earth used for filling or leveling purposes and in the construction of, inter alia, buildings. Rule 14(2) provides that no quarrying permit is required for extraction of ordinary earth in connection with the construction of residential buildings including flats or commercial buildings having a plinth area of 300M2, if the owner of the land has obtained a valid permit for construction of the building from the Local Self Government Authorities concerned. It would follow therefore, that in the case of buildings having a plinth area of up to 300M2, so long as the person constructing the building has a valid permit from the local authority, such a person would not require a mining permit for the purposes of an excavation in connection with the foundation of the building that he proposes to construct. This would be so as a result of the exemption granted under Rule 14 of the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015. Similarly, the said person would also not be required to obtain any environmental clearance certificate, since the notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forest referred above, would grant him an exemption in that regard. I note from the facts in the instant writ petition that Ext.P1 building permit issued to the petitioner herein indicates that the building that is proposed to be constructed has a plinth area of 19631M2. While the petitioner would be exempted from the requirement of prior environmental clearance, he would nevertheless have to obtain a mining permit as a pre-condition for commencing mining activities in his land in connection with the construction of the building envisaged in Ext.P1 building permit. It is only after he commences mining operations pursuant to a valid mining permit granted to him that he can apply before the Geologist for the issuance of transit passes to transport the mined earth from his premises to outside. Accordingly, taking note of the facts in the instant writ petition, I dispose the writ petition with the following directions: