The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday stayed all types of mining activities across the Ravi river bed in Punjab’s Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts, which share international border with Pakistan.
The directions came from Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Gurbir Singh Pannu in 2012, surrounding illegal mining in Punjab.
Notably, the affidavits filed by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Army pointed out that ‘unabated’ and ‘unchecked’ sand mining on the Ravi river bed by several heavy duty excavators could jeopardise the security of the border areas.
