Nainital, June 29 -- The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the chairman of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to appear before it and sought to know the steps taken to protect the environment and reduce the harmful effects of soapstone mining in the Bageshwar district.
The direction was issued by a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra while hearing a PIL that complained of cracks appearing in houses in several villages of Kanda tehsil in the district.
The matter will now be heard by the high court on June 30.
The residents of Kanda tehsil had also sent a letter to the chief justice claiming that illegal soapstone mining had destroyed their farmlands, homes, a...