The National Green Tribunal, Central Zone at Bhopal directed the constitution of a three-member Joint Committee to assess allegations of illegal sand mining activities at the River Betwa located in District Vidisha.

Noting that "a substantial issue of environment has been raised", the bench of Judicial Member Justice Sheo Kumar Singh, and Expert Member Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi, issued notice to the respondents and said:

"We deem it just and proper to call a report on the matter in issue, in present application, from a Joint Committee consisting of: (i) One representative from the MoEF&CC at integrated office at Bhopal (ii) One representative from the Collector/District Magistrate, District Vidisha(M.P.) (iii) One representative from the Member Secretary, State Pollution Control Board, (M.P.)".

The court directed the Committee to visit the site and submit the factual and action taken report within six weeks. The State PCB was appointed as nodal agency for coordination and logistic support.

The application was filed by a senior citizen who was interested in the protection and conservation of the environment within the meaning of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. It was claimed that the applicant has been pursuing this matter since August 21, 2024. Per the application, the illegal activities are taking place in Village Jonakhedi, Tehsil Kurwai, District Vidisha.

Before the Tribunal, the applicant stated that respondent no. 11, who owns agricultural land in the said village, has been carrying out large-scale illegal sand mining since 2019. The application claimed that respondent no. 11 has no valid environmental clearance, mining lease, approved mining plan, or District Survey Report.

The Tribunal further issued notice to the respondents and directed the applicant to take necessary steps for service to the respondents.

The Tribunal further directed the Committee to visit site and submit factual and action taken report within 6 weeks.

The application stated that the River Betwa, which is also part of the ongoing Ken-Betwa Link Project, is a major inter-state river and tributary of the River Yamuna, which in turn drains into the Ganga Basin.

The application also claimed that the applicant had filed an application under the RTI Act seeking verification records for the illegal extraction. The applicant filed a second RTI application. In both applications, the concerned department categorically stated that the said information was not available on office records.

The application claimed that the applicant had filed three appeals before the State Information Commission. The applicant further forwarded a written communication to the Directorate of Geology and Mining, placing on record the illegal extraction with the help of the Panchayat members

On October 22, 2025, the applicant submitted photographs of the site depicting 8-10 heaps of freshly extracted coarse.

The matter was accordingly listed for December 9.

For Applicant: Advocates Hemant Gupta, Harpreet Singh Gupta, and Srajan Jain