By IANS,
Jammu : Citing environmental and legal concerns, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Tuesday ordered temporary suspension of mining activities in Trikuta hills nestling the famous Mata Vaishno Devi shrine near here.
Chief Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice Hasnain Massodi were responding to a Public Interest Litigation filed by lawyers Dewaker Sharma and Vilakshan Singh.
The justices directed the respondents “not to carry out any mining or other activity in the mine lease area belonging to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in the vicinity of Trikuta Wild Life Sanctuary”.
The area is in vicinity of the shrine that attracts millions of pilgrims every year.
The petitioners have contended that “extraction through mining would not only cause disaster to the ecology and environment of the area but it would be in violation” of a state law on the safeguards of ecology and environment.
The petitioners said no expert opinion was ever sought by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board regarding the impact of mining on the shrine and the flora and fauna of the hill it is situated on.