Overview
- Acting Thursday, a bench led by Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and Vijay Bishnoi ordered top Rajasthan bureaucrats to appear on May 20 with individual affidavits on steps taken to curb illegal mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary.
- NHAI was added to the case and must detail how it will safeguard a bridge near the Morena–Dholpur border and why CCTV on and around the structure should not be mandated for live monitoring.
- The bench demanded answers on how unregistered tractors and other vehicles still haul mined sand, directing Madhya Pradesh’s transport chief to appear with an affidavit on Motor Vehicles Act enforcement and actions against violators.
- The court cited Central Empowered Committee findings that Rajasthan installed only one CCTV across 40 flagged sites and set up no live control room, calling the state’s response casual and at the proposal stage.
- The sanctuary spans Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh and shelters gharials and Ganges river dolphins, and unchecked sand extraction can strip riverbanks and even threaten bridge foundations.