The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the installation of CCTV cameras, GPS tracking devices and control rooms in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to check rampant illegal sand mining within the bounds of the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary.
Such illegal activities have severely degraded critical wildlife habitats, including those of the endangered gharials, the court noted.
The court took suo motu cognisance of the activities of the mining mafia and the failure of the three states to check the menace.
“It is indeed a matter of grave and serious concern that the state authorities, who are entrusted with the solemn duty of enforcing the rule of law and protecting public resources, appear to have abdicated, if not altogether abandoned, their statutory and constitutional responsibilities. The circumstances, taken as a whole, may even warrant an inference of tacit connivance," the court said.
The three states would have to install high-resolution, Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras, mounted on appropriately elevated poles/masts, at all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining as well as along vulnerable stretches of the river where such activities are prevalent, the court said.
The surveillance cameras would have to be under the supervision of the superintendent of police or the SSP of the district concerned, the court said, adding that the divisional forest officer shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring.