Gujarat HC orders ground survey to verify illegal mining

Observing that a survey to find out illegal limestone mining in Porbandar district using Google Earth technology was insufficient, Gujarat High Court today directed the state government to verify the findings through a ground-level survey.

A division bench of justices Anant S Dave and A Y Kogji passed the order in response to affidavit filed by Porbandar collector Dinesh Patel which said the authorities had ordered recovery of Rs 171 crore from those found to have mined limestone illegally.

The affidavit said that officials had checked petitioner Dilipsinh Chauhan's claims and found, using tools such as Google Earth and GPS, that Rs 171 crore-worth of illegal mining had taken place.

The petitioner, who alleged rampant illegal mining, had submitted 31 Google Earth images to back his claim.

The court, however, said there should be a ground survey to substantiate the illegal mining found through Google Earth technology.

The court also granted time till February 21 to the petitioner to file a counter-affidavit.

Chauhan's petition also alleged that relatives of a state minister were involved in illegal mining.