Bhopal: The state government has been given 15 days to reply to a petition asking the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Bhopal to cancel a diamond mining contract given to a private company in the jungles of Buxwaha in Chhatarpur district. The petitioner, Nagrik Upbhokta Jagran Manch, claims that if diamond mining is allowed, more than 2 lakh trees in the jungle would be cut down, gravely harming not just the environment in the region but also animals. The panel, which included judicial member Justice Shivkumar Singh and expert member Arun Verma, also ordered the petitioner’s counsel to give the state government a copy of the petition and relevant papers.
During the petition hearing on July 1, 2021, the NGT ordered the company to stop chopping trees in the forest until the project gained forest clearance. During the petition’s hearing on Wednesday, Prabhat Yadav, the petitioner’s counsel, requested permission to introduce further papers in the case. While permitting Yadav to do so, the bench also ordered him to provide the state government a copy of the petition and other associated papers produced before the NGT. The state administration was also given 15 days to respond to the petition by the tribunal.