Overview
- The Supreme Court, which on Tuesday took cognisance of a Hindustan Times spot‑check showing active unregistered sand transport, directed Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to act immediately and asked Madhya Pradesh for an urgent response.
- The bench set firm implementation windows that require all major surveillance measures to be operational within six months and recruitment to fill frontline forest‑guard vacancies to be completed within one year.
- The court ordered the National Highways Authority of India to install high‑resolution night‑vision CCTV on the Morena–Dholpur bridge and asked states to create integrated monitoring control centres and GPS or digital tracking to monitor riverbed activity.
- Authorities were told to seize vehicles with fake or no registration and to pursue criminal prosecutions not only against drivers but also against owners, operators, contractors and financiers who enable organised illegal mining networks.
- The bench said states should consider giving statutory prosecution immunity to forest guards for bona fide on‑duty actions, asked for welfare and protection plans for frontline staff, and listed the matter for further hearings in the short term and for review in July.