1 2025:CGHC:53301-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPPIL No. 85 of 2025 Govind Gour Alias Govind Sharma S/o Late Shri R.N. Gour, Aged About 51 Years R/o - Flat 402, B-Block, Indrasen Nagar, Mangala, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. ... Petitioner versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Mines And Minerals, Government Of Chhattisgarh, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Secretary, Department Of Housing And Environment, Government Of Chhattisgarh, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh 3 - Member Secretary, Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board, Department Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change, Government Of Chhattisgarh, Paryavas Bhawanm North Block, Sector - 19, Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh 4 - Director, Directorate Of Geology And Mining, Indravati Bhawan, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 5 - The Collector And District Magistrate, Collectorate OfÏce, Rampur, District - Korba, Chhattisgarh 6 - Regional OfÏce - Korba, Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board, H.I.G. 21 And 22, Near Tehsil OfÏce, Rampur, District - Korba, Chhattisgarh 7 - Deputy Director (Mining), Department Of Geology And Mining, Collectorate OfÏce, Rampur, District - Korba, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Kishore Bhaduri, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Harsh Dave, Advocate. For Respondent No. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7/State : Mr. Y.S.Thakur, Additional Advocate General For Respondent No. 3 and 6 : Mr. Animesh Tiwari, Advocate. 2 Hon’ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon’ble Mr. Bibhu Datta Guru, Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 31/10/2025 1 Heard Mr. Kishore Bhaduri, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Harsh Dave, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. Y.S.Thakur, learned Additional Advocate General for the State/respondents No. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 as well as Mr. Animesh Tiwari, learned counsel for the respondent No. 3 and 6. 2 By this public interest litigation petition, the petitioner seeks for the following relief(s): “10.1 The Hon'ble court may kindly be pleased to quash the order dated 07.08.2025 which directed thermal power plants to dewater the water tank/reservoir of pit of abandoned Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine and further direct respondent No. 06 to enquire into and cancel all the permissions granted for dumping of ash in Konkona Ordinary Stone Mines. 10.2 That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to cancel all the permissions granted to the all the concerned thermal power plants for dumping of ash into Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine by Respondent No. 06. 10.3 The Hon'ble court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent No. 06 to direct the concerned polluters to clean the ash already dumped in the water reservoir of Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine and restore it to its state as it was before dumping of fly ash started. 10.4 The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any further orders, as it may deem fit, in the facts and circumstances of the case.” 3 3 The facts, as projected by the petitioner are that he is a permanent resident of District Bilaspur for more than past 32 years years and has been working in the field of print media for more than 15 years. Through journalism, the petitioner has made attempts to raise various social and environmental issues concerning the people in the State of Chhattisgarh. The petitioner is also actively associated with Akhil Bhartiya Patrakar Surakasha Samiti The petitioner uses "Govind Sharma" as his pen name for the news/events penned by him. Furthermore, the issue of dumping of fly ash in Konkona mines has been covered by various print and electronic media outlets. 4 The subject abandoned mines in issue i.e. Konkona Ordinary Stone Mines is situated in village Konkona, Tehsil Podi-Uproda, District Korba. During the year 2016-17, permission was granted by Respondent No. 05 and 07 for mining of stones for the purpose of construction of National High No. 111 (Now NH-130A) to a private Company which was authorised by National Highway Authority of India to construct the patch of National Highway between Katghora to Shivnagar. The mining permission was granted for a period of 2 years and as of today, the construction of the highway patch is complete. As a result of the stone mining operation carried out at Konkona Ordinary Stone Mines, the land topography was changed and 2 unreclaimed pits were created at the mining site. These two mines were later left as abandoned after construction of relevant patch of National Highway. As per all the approved plans, be it from Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (for short, the CECB) or the Mining Department, the unreclaimed pit at Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine formed after completion of stone mining operation was to be left/developed as a water reservoir. 4 5 Several permissions were granted by respondent No. 6 in the month of May and June 2025 permitting various thermal power plants to dump fly ash in the unreclaimed pit of the now abandoned Konkona Ordinary Stone Mines. On finding out about the permissions being given to thermal power plants to dump ash in abandoned Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine, the petitioner moved representations before Respondent No. 5, 6 and 7 on 02.07.2025. Vide these representations, the petitioner provided GPS tagged photos and videos of ash dumping being done in the clean water reservoir of Konkona Mines, copy of OM dated 28.08.2019 governing the disposal of ash in abandoned mines/quarries, copy of the approved mining plan and environmental cluster management plan etc. to the respondent authorities. Furthermore, the aspect of River Tan being within a distance of 150 meter of the abandoned mines was also specifically spelt out in the representation but till today no action has been taken by the respondent authorities against the said representation. When nothing was done on the representation of the petitioner, the petitioner approached Respondent No. 2, 3 and 4 vide representation dated 08.07.2025. All the contentions raised vide representation dated 02.07.2025, were raised in this representation as well. Furthermore, the aspect of various State authorities preparing false report in regard to presence of river near the abandoned mines in order to bypass OM dated 28.08.2019 was also spelt out in these representations. 6 Mr. Kishore Bhaduri, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that as all the representations fell on deaf years, the petitioner also filed a representation in the form of grievance before the Centralised Public Grievance Resolution Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) on 15.07.2025 and the same was placed before Director, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi. The representation preferred 5 on CPGRAMS has been forwarded to Respondent No. 5 and the same is awaiting action till today. Looking into the inaction on the part of all respondent State authorities, the petitioner personally went and met with incumbent Respondent No. 06 on 22.07.2025 and explained them the issues surrounding the permission granted for ash dumping. The incumbent Respondent No. 06 assured petitioner of action as per law after detailed explanation and discussion on the issue. Vide email dated 07.08.2025, respondent No. 06 informed the petitioner about order dated 07.08.2025 wherein the various thermal power plants were asked to dewater the water pit/reservoir created at the abandoned Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine. On 22.08 2025, the petitioner again wrote an email addressed to Respondent No. 06 clearly spelling out that dumping of fly ash in Konkona Ordinary Stone Mine is impermissible as per the law and hence, no thermal power plant ought to be permitted to dump fly ash in the abandoned mines. Along with email, google earth images of the location showing the presence of water in the pit since 2019 till 2023 were also supplied. Now, apart from dumping fly ash into the mines, the water reservoir which has existed for more than past 6 years faces the threat of dewatering at the hands of thermal power plants. The pit has had water in it for years now, especially since 2019. Hence, this petition. 7 On the last date of hearing i.e. on 17.09.2025, Mr. Animesh Tiwari, learned counsel appearing for the respondents No. 3 and 6 submitted that the permission which was granted earlier for dumping of the fly ash was revoked, which was disputed by the petitioner. On this statement, the Regional OfÏcer, CECB, Korba, was directed to file his personal afÏdavit. 6 8 Mr. Tiwari, relying on the afÏdavit filed pursuant to the aforesaid order, submits that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had issued notification S.O 5481(E) dated 31.12.2021. The notification governs the utilization of the fly ash and also includes that the fly ash can be utilized in the backfilling of mines. The environmental clearances granted to M/s Dilip Buildcon Limited (the industry which dug up the mining pit for mining of stone for the purpose of National Highway 130) in the year 2020 and 2021 also mentions that after expiry of mining lease, such areas which has been affected by mining activities shall be reclaimed and re-grassed as per the mine closure plan. The mining plan (attached as Annexure P/3 to the petition) relied on by the petitioner which mentions that the pit after completion of mining in Konkona Stone Mines was to be developed as water body, is the old plan that was passed in the year 2016. As per the new Quarry Closure Plans passed in the year 2024, the pit that has been formed in the Konkona Stone Mines after completion of mining should be reclaimed by filling it with fly ash and covering it with top soil and finally doing plantation on the reclaimed land. 9 Mr. Tiwari further submits that after the complaint received from the petitioner, the team of ofÏcers inspected the Konkona Stone Mines on dated 30.07.2025. During inspection, it was observed that Mine No. 01, Mine No. 02 and 04 were partially filled with water and mine No. 6 was completely filled with water. Hence, no fly ash filling work was started in mine No. 06. The Regional OfÏcer thereby directed the thermal power plants to stop filling fly ash in mine no 01, 02 and 04. The Regional OfÏcer then wrote the impugned letter and only allowed the thermal power plants dewater the mining pit to ensure compliance of condition regarding dewatering incorporated in the permission for fly ash filling and obtain re permission after dewatering for filling the mine in consonance with the 7 quarry closure plan and Environmental Clearance granted to M/s Dilip Buildcon Limited, and as stated above, they had the condition of reclaiming the mined area by filling it with fly ash and covering it with top soil and plantation. The Regional OfÏcer has also clearly mentioned in the impugned order that during dewatering the industries shall ensure that top soil covering work is continued; air and water monitoring shall be done and air and water pollution prevention measures shall be taken. The industries have submitted the water analysis report of River tan and the results show that the quality of water in river tan is under the prescribed limits. 10 Further, as per the notification dated 31.12.2021 and after obtaining NoC from Gram Panchayat, Village Konkana, District Korba, lease holder (M/s Dilip Buildcon Limited), the Collector, District- Korba, SDM (Revenue), Pondi Uproda, District Korba, Mining OfÏcer, District-Korba and DFO, Katghora, District- Korba, the permission of dumping 6,70,000 MT of fly ash in the Konkana Stone Mine No. 1, 2, 4 and 6 were granted to 4 thermal power plants by the Regional OfÏcer. These powers plants are M/s. ACB (India) Ltd, 270 MW, Village Kasaipali, District Korba, M/s. ACB (India) Ltd. 60 MW village Renki, District Korba, M/s. Maruti Clean Coal and Power Ltd. 300 MW, village Bandhakhar, District Korba, and M/s. BALCO (500+1200 MW) Balco Nagar, District Korba. The condition of dewatering the water in the mining pit before filling of fly ash, construction of bunds, retaining wall if necessary, use of bottom liners, ground water monitoring, transportation through properly covered/GPS enabled vehicles etc. was included in the fly ash filling permission granted to these thermal power plants. M/s. BALCO has informed by its letter dated 08.07.2025 that they have not started dumping fly ash in the mining pit. M/s. ACB (India) Ltd. 270 MW village Kasaipali, District 8 Korba, by their letter dated 17.07.2025, M/s. ACB (India) Ltd. 60 MW village Renki District Korba, by their letter dated 18.07.2025 and M/s. Maruti Clean Coal and Power Ltd. 300 MW village Bandhakhar, District Korba by their letter dated 05.08.2025 informed that they dewatered the mining pit before filling of fly ash, but the pit was filled with water again due to heavy rain. 11 Mr. Tiwari submits that M/s Maruti Clean Coal & Power Ltd., 300 MW, Village- Bandhakhar, District - Korba by their letter dated 11.08.2025, M/s A.C.B. (India) Limited, 60 MW, village Renki, District Korba by their letter dated 08.08.2025 and M/s ACB (India) Limited, 270 MW, village Kasaipali, District Korba, have informed that they have stopped the work of fly ash filling in the Konkana Stone Mines with immediate effect and will only restart the work after obtaining requisite permission. The Konkana Stone Mine was again inspected by the authorities on 24.09.2025. During inspection, it was observed that the mining pit No. 6 is completely filled with water and no fly ash filling or dumping is being done. Dewatering of mining pit No. 1, 2 and 4 was being done. The representatives of the Industries present during the inspection were instructed not to start fly ash filling without obtaining proper and prior permission from the Board. There is a natural barrier (High Land/ Rock Hill) in between the mine and River Tan and there is no possibility of embankment failure or spilling of the dumped fly ash into the river. 12 We have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties, perused the pleadings and documents appended thereto. 13 The primary grievance of the petitioner was that the pit formed by mining of the stones should not be used for filling up the fly ash but since there existed a huge water body since 2019, the same should be left as a 9 water body only. From the above afÏdavit filed by the Regional OfÏcer, CECB, it appears that at this stage, the grievance raised by the petitioner has been redressed as no dumping of fly ash is being done by any of the industries. 14 Mr. Bhaduri, learned Senior Advocate for the petitioner contends that though the dumping of fly ash has been stopped, but when dumping may start again, cannot be ruled out and as such, the respondent authorities may be directed to restrain any of the industries to dump fly ash in the area in question and the mining pit should remain a water body for ever. 15 On the above submission, Mr. Tiwari submits that the mine has been closed long ago and as per the earlier closure plan, the same was to be filled by the fly ash but if any changes has to be made in the mine closure plan with respect to the use of the pit, that can be done only by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (for short, the SEIAA) and not the CECB. 16 In view of the above submission, we hereby dispose of this petition with a hope and trust that the respondent authorities would not permit any industries to fill the pit with fly ash and the water body so formed shall not be disturbed. In case, the petitioner has still any grievance, he may take recourse to the appropriate authority in accordance with law. Sd/- Sd/- (Bibhu Datta Guru) (Ramesh Sinha) JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Amit AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Digitally signed by AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Date: 2025.11.03 18:19:31 +0530