The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued a notice to the Director General (DG) of the Department of Mines and Minerals for non-compliance with court orders in the limestone lifting case and directed him to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him.
The direction came on a petition against lifting of limestone by private contractors in Thatta.
The petitioners, who are local residents of Thatta villages, challenged the removal of minerals and limestone from 200 acres of land in the district. They said the private contractor’s license had expired, but still the contractor was illegally extracting limestone from the area using crushers.
They said that due to the use of heavy machinery, the ecosystem of the area was severely affected and the villagers were unable to cultivate their land.
They said residents were also facing dust allergies and eye infections due to limestone mining near their villages by a private contractor and asked the high court to ban the contractor from lifting limestone from the area.
A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar observed that the Directorate General of Mines and Minerals was directed to submit a complete breakdown of the last 10 years in respect of land leases and amounts received for such leases. The High Court also directed the Thatta SSP to cooperate with the district administration and ensure that limestone is not mined from the subject area.
The SHC noted that despite the notice, the Directorate General of Mines and Minerals did not submit any comments.
The High Court issued a summons to the Directorate General of Mines and Minerals to explain why it did not comply with the court order and directed the respondents to submit a compliance report on the next date of hearing.
The bench also issued a notice to the Directorate General of Mines and Minerals and others on another petition against the lifting of limestone and marble near Keenjhar Lake.
The petitioners said private contractors are mining limestone in the Chilliah area near Keenjhar Lake, which is disrupting the ecosystem of the lake.
They said illegal mining of limestone and gravel from the site may also cause potential danger to Kerli Bashar feeders and residents of the site. The Supreme Court was asked to stop private contractors from mining limestone near Keenjhar Lake and ban such exercise to protect the lake.
