Full Text
REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99
The Gazette of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II—Section 3—Sub-section (ii)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 1210]
NEW DELHI, MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025/PHALGUNA 26, 1946
1775 GI/2025
MINISTRY OF ENIRONMENT, FORESTAND CLIMATE CHANGE
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 17th March, 2025
S.O. 1223(E).—WHEREAS the Central Government in the erstwhile Ministry of Environment and Forests
vide notification number S.O. 1533(E), dated the 14th September, 2006, published in the Gazette of India,
Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), (hereinafter referred to as the said notification) imposed certain
restrictions on constructions of new projects or activities or expansion or modernisation of existing projects or
activities and require prior environmental clearance before undertaking such projects or activities covered under the
Schedule to the said notification;
AND WHEREAS the Central Government vide notification number S.O. 1224(E), dated the 28th March,
2020 amended the items 6 and 7 of Appendix-IX of the said notification, inter alia, to provide exemption from
obtaining the prior environmental clearance for extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth for linear
projects such as roads, pipelines, etc., and for dredging and desilting of dams, reservoirs, weirs, barrages, river and
canals for the purpose of their maintenance, upkeep and disaster management;
AND WHEREAS the National Green Tribunal, vide its order dated the 28th October, 2020 in O.A. No. 160
of 2020 titled Noble M. Paikada vs. Union of India, directed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate
Change to revisit the impugned notification dated the 28th March, 2020 within three months;
AND WHEREAS in compliance of the order of the National Green Tribunal, the Central Government in
consultation with the Expert Appraisal Committee relating to the non-coal mining and river valley and hydro-electric
projects, issued an Office Memorandum dated the 8th August, 2022 to clarify the applicability of the said notification
for the excavation of ordinary earth from borrow area for linear projects and issued a standard operating procedure for
borrow area identification, its operation, safety, environmental safeguards to be observed and redevelopment and vide
another Office Memorandum dated the 12th July, 2023, issued a clarification regarding the exemption from the
requirement of prior environmental clearance provided vide notification number S.O. 1224(E), dated the 28th March,
2020 for dredging and de-silting of dams, reservoirs, weirs, barrages, river and canals for the purpose of their
maintenance, upkeep and disaster management;
AND WHEREAS the petitioner had filed a Civil Appeal No. 1628-1629/2021 titled Noble Paikada vs Union
of India and Ors., before the Supreme Court and based on the hearings in the matter, the Central Government vide
notification number S.O. 3840(E), dated the 30th August 2023 amended items 6 and 7 of Appendix-IX to the said
notification, to the effect that the exemption provided therein shall be subject to the compliance of standard operating
procedures and environmental safeguards issued in this regard from time to time and also issued an Office
Memorandum dated the 21st August, 2023, with directions to the authorities concerned to enforce the standard
operating procedures and environmental safeguards covered in the Office Memoranda dated the 8th August, 2022 and
12th July, 2023.
AND WHEREAS the Supreme Court vide its judgment dated the 21st March 2024 in Civil Appeal Nos.
1628-1629 of 2021 titled Noble M. Paikada Vs Union of India has struck down item 6 of the Appendix-IX to the said
notification, as amended from time to time, on the grounds that the term “linear projects" is not defined and is very
vague and the process to be adopted for excavation has not been set out, thus, item 6 is a case of completely unguided
and blanket exemption which is, per se, arbitrary and violative of article 14 of the Constitution of India;
AND WHEREAS in order to address all the issues and concerns raised by the Supreme Court, a draft
notification for amending the said notification was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3,
Sub-section (ii), vide number S.O.3099(E), dated the 2nd August, 2024, inviting objections and suggestions from all
the persons likely to be affected thereby, within a period of sixty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette
containing the said draft notification were made available to the Public;
AND WHEREAS the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulum in WP(C) No. 29810 of 2024 titled Sajeev
Sebastian and Anr. Vs. Union of India and Ors., vide order dated the 5th September, 2024 directed the Central
Government to publish the Malayalam version of the draft notification dated the 2nd August, 2024 which the Central
Government in compliance of the order of the High Court has published the Malayalam translation of the draft
notification for seeking public comments within a period of sixty days on the website of the Ministry of Environment,
Forests and Climate Change and PARIVESH website;
AND WHEREAS the objections and suggestions received in response to the said notifications within the
specified period have been duly considered by the Central Government.
NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) and clause (v) of sub-section (2)
of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), read with sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the
Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, the Central Government hereby makes the following further amendments in
the notification of the Government of India in the erstwhile Ministry of Environment and Forests, number
S.O.1533(E), dated the 14th September, 2006, namely:—
In the said notification, in Appendix-IX,—
(a) for item 6 and the entries relating thereto, the following item and entries shall be substituted, namely:-
"6. Extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth for the linear projects subject to the compliance of
the conditions set out in Appendix XIV.";
(b) after Appendix-XIII, the following Appendix shall be inserted, namely:—
'Appendix-XIV
(See item 6 of Appendix-IX)
1. Definition of linear projects.— For the purpose of item 6 of Appendix-IX and this Appendix, “linear projects"
means the projects of slurry pipelines, oil and gas transportation pipeline, highways or laying of railway lines, which
require extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth above the threshold of 20,000 cubic metre and does not
require prior environment clearance under this notification.
2. Environmental safeguards for extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth for linear projects.—
(1) All Linear projects shall follow the standard operating procedure set out in this Appendix.
(2) The Expert Appraisal Committee shall, while granting prior environment clearance for the projects
requiring extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth, include the environmental safeguards prescribed in
this Appendix as part of the prior environmental clearance granted to them.
3. Standard operating procedure.—
(1) A Committee consisting of the following members (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) shall
decide the quantum of ordinary earth that can be extracted, sourced or borrowed for a particular project based on the
different criteria mentioned in paragraph (2) namely:-
(a) District Collector or District Magistrate or his authorised representative not below the rank of a
district level Officer, in case the project is spread in more than one sub-division, or the Sub-Divisional
Magistrate (if the project is restricted to one sub-division) —Chairman;
(b) District Forest Officer or his nominee -Member;
(c) an Officer of the State Pollution Control Board authorised by the Chairman of the State Pollution
Control Board -Member;
(d) District Mines Officer or Assistant Director or Deputy Director or Geologist -Member-
Secretary.
(2) The project proponent of the linear project, which requires extraction or sourcing, or borrowing of
ordinary earth, shall make an application in the following Form to the Committee for the required quantity of ordinary
earth.
FORM
PROFORMA FOR MAKING APPLICATION TO THE COMMITTEE
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| | Details of the project— | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 1. | (i) Name of the project | |
| | (ii) Name of the company/ organisation | |
| | (iii) Registered address | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 2. | Address for the correspondence— | |
| | (i) Name of the project proponent | |
| | (ii) Designation | |
| | (iii) Address | |
| | (iv) PIN code | |
| | (v) e-mail ID | |
| | (vi) Mobile No | |
| | (vii) Fax No. | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 3. | Type of the linear project | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 4. | Location of the linear project— | |
| | (i) Plot or Survey or Khasra number| |
| | (ii) Village | |
| | (iii) Tehsil | |
| | (iv) District | |
| | (v) State | |
| | (vi) PIN code | |
| | (vii) Latitudes and longitudes of the project or activity site | |
| | (viii) Survey of India Topo Sheet number | |
| | (ix) Copy of Topo Sheet | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 5. | If project is executed in multiple States/Union territory, details thereof— | |
| | (i) Number of States/Union territory in which project will | |
| | be executed | |
| | (ii) details of all the States/Union Territory where the | |
| | project is located | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 6. | Whether the project proposed to be located in border | |
| | states: (Yes/No) if yes details thereof | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 7. | Location of the site(s) from where the borrow earth is to be extracted— | |
| | (i) Plot or Survey or Khasra number; | |
| | Village | |
| | Tehsil | |
| | District | |
| | State | |
| | PIN code | |
| | (ii) Latitudes and longitudes of the site | |
| | (iii) Survey of India Topo Sheet number | |
| | (iv) Copy of Topo Sheet | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+----------------+
| 8. | Total ordinary earth requirement (in cubic metre— | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| | Location | Type of material (sand/clay/ ordinary earth) | Quantity per day (In tonnes) | Distance of the site of extraction from the project site where the material shall be used (in kms) | Mode of Transport | Method/ Equipment used for extraction |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| | Site 1 | | | | | |
| | Site 2 | | | | | |
| | Site 3 | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| | (v) Distance in metre/kilometre | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 9. | Total number of borrow pits | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 10. | Planned length of haul roads (m) | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 11. | Area of land earmarked for stockpile (sqm) | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 12. | Details of stacking arrangement along with safeguards | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 13. | If forest land involved: Yes/No | | | | | |
| | (i) Date of in-principle (Stage-I) approval; | | | | | |
| | (ii) Area diverted | | | | | |
| | (iii) If final (Stage-II) approval obtained and file number | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 14. | (i) Tree cutting, if any | | | | | |
| | (ii) No. of trees cut for the project (if forest land not involved); and | | | | | |
| | (iii) details of tree cutting and planting of trees | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 15. | (i) Present land use breakup in Ha | | | | | |
| | (ii) Agriculture area | | | | | |
| | (iii) Waste/barren area | | | | | |
| | (iv) Grazing/community area; | | | | | |
| | (v) Surface water bodies | | | | | |
| | (vi) Settlements | | | | | |
| | (v) Industrial | | | | | |
| | (vi) Forest | | | | | |
| | (vii) Mangroves | | | | | |
| | (viii) Marine area | | | | | |
| | (ix) Others (specify) | | | | | |
| | (x) Total | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 16. | Land ownership pattern (prior to the proposed extraction of borrow earth) in Hactare [Forest land; | | | | | |
| | Private land; Government land; revenue land; other land; Total Land]— | | | | | |
| | (i) Owned or leased | | | | | |
| | (ii) If owned, details thereof (attach proof of ownership) | | | | | |
| | (iii) If leased, details thereof (attach agreement with owner as Annexure) | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| | (iv) Layout plan (attach drawings as Annexure) | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 17. | In case of linear project being located in Coastal | | | | | |
| | Regulation Zone area— | | | | | |
| | (i) Recommendation of State Coastal Zone Management Authority | | | | | |
| | (ii) Copy of the Coastal Regulation Zone clearance for the linear project | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 18. | Details of reclamation: Total afforestation plan | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| 19. | Ecological and environmental sensitivity (within 10 Km of site of borrow earth extraction)— | | | | | |
| | (i) Details of Ecological Sensitivity | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| Details of ecological sensitivity | Name | Distance from the site (Km) | Remarks | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| Ecological sensitivity: (critically polluted area, severely polluted area, protected area, eco sensitive zones, wildlife corridors, etc.) | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
| | (ii) Name of the project proponent | | | | | |
| | Signature | | | | | |
| | Date | | | | | |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+----------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+------------------------------+
(3) The Committee shall examine the application on the criteria set out in paragraph 4 and shall inform the
project proponent about the permissible quantity of ordinary earth which can be extracted from one or more identified
sites within forty-five days from the date of receipt of the application.
4. Criteria for environmental safeguards.—
(1) General safeguards.— (a) The project proponent shall identify the borrow area locations in consultation
with the individual owners in case of private lands and the Department concerned in case of Government lands after
assessing suitability of the material.
(b) The borrow area shall not be from agricultural or cultivable land and it shall be preferably from barren
land, silted ponds and other Government lands and in case the earth from those land is not available for any reason the
earth from agricultural or cultivable land may be obtained only as a last option.
(c) If the Government's authorities are creating or developing ponds and water bodies especially in a water
stressed or scarce area, then, in such cases, the borrowed earth of those ponds or water bodies can be used by the user
agencies of highways sector for the purposes of embankments.
(2) The extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth is to be avoided on the following areas.-
(i) lands close to toe line;
(ii) irrigated agricultural lands and in case of necessity for borrowing from such lands, the topsoil shall
be preserved in stockpiles;
(iii) grazing lands;
(iv) up to one kilometre from environmentally sensitive areas such as reserve forests, protected forests,
sanctuary, National parks, conservation reserve, wetlands
(v) unstable hillsides;
(vi) water-bodies;
(vii) streams and seepage areas;
(viii) areas supporting rare plants and animal species;
(ix) areas with predominant soft rocks.
(3) The extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth shall be in the following order.-
(i) cut material available from other road construction projects nearby;
(ii) from dredging operations of ponds, lakes, rivers and canals after approval from the competent
authority;
(iii) from barren land or land without tree cover outside the road right of way;
(iv) by excavating land and creating new water tanks or ponds as choice of land owner and in
concurrence of local authority;
(v) from excavation of proposed culverts and reuse of cut materials with in proposed right of way;
(vi) use of fly-ash, inert solid waste from the secured landfills and use of construction and demolition
waste;
(vii) granulated sludge from wastewater treatment plants;
(viii) from agricultural land subject to the condition that the productive top-soil is stored separately
and its reuse for plantation and agriculture.
(4) Specification of area fixed for extraction.—
(i) extraction or borrowing pits should be rectangular in shape with one side parallel to the centre line
of the road;
(ii) no extraction or borrowing pits should be dug within 5 m of the edge of the right of way, after
making due allowance for future development;
(iii) extraction or borrowing pits where other conditions permit, should be well drained to prevent the
breeding of mosquitoes and to ensure efficient drainage, the bed level of the borrow pits should, as far as
possible, slope down progressively towards the nearest cross drain, if any, and should not be lower than the
bed of the cross drain.
(iv) when it becomes necessary to borrow earth from temporarily acquired cultivable lands, the depth
of the borrow pits should not exceed 1.5 m and the top soil to a depth of 150 mm should be stripped and
stacked aside, thereafter, soil may be dug out to a further depth not exceeding 1350 mm and used in
forming the embankment and the top soil should then be spread back on the land.
(v) The Guidelines or Standard Operating Procedure as laid down in the extant construction codes or
manuals regarding Borrow pits shall be adhered to.
(5) Site Specific Measures and environmental safeguards.—
(i) A 150 mm topsoil will be stripped off from the borrow pit and this will be stored in stockpiles in a
secured designated area for height not exceeding 2 m and side slopes not steeper than 1:2 (Vertical:
Horizontal) and the top soil shall be re-used for plantation and cultivation etc.
(ii) Borrowing of earth will be carried out up to a depth of 1.5 m from the existing ground level
(iii) Borrowing of earth will not be done continuously throughout the stretch.
(iv) Ridges of not less than 8 m widths will be left at intervals not exceeding 300 m.
(v) Small drains will be cut through the ridges, if necessary, to facilitate drainage.
(vi) At location where private owners desire their fields to be levelled, the borrowing shall be done to a
depth of not more than 1.5 m or up to the level of surrounding fields.
(vii) Borrow area near to any surface water body will be at least at a distance of 15 m from the toe of the
bank or high flood level, whichever is maximum.
(viii) Borrow pits located near settlements will be re-developed immediately after borrowing is
completed. If spoils are dumped, that will be covered with a layer of stockpiled topsoil.
(ix) Borrow pits along the alignment shall be discouraged. If unavoidable the borrow pit should be
minimum 5 m distance away from the edge of the Right of Way.
(x) Also, no pit shall be dug within the offset width from the toe of the embankment required as per the
consideration of stability with a minimum width of 10 m.
5. Submission of information.-
The project proponent shall, from time to time, as may be required by the Central Government or the Committee
furnish such information or report as it may direct.
6. Re-development of borrow areas.-
(1) The project proponent shall return the borrow pit sites to a safe and secure area, which the general public
should be able to safely enter by securing borrow pits in a stable condition through rehabilitation process and by
filling the borrow pit approximately to the road surface in a progressive manner
(2) The borrow areas will be rehabilitated by exercising suitable options as follows:-
(i) Borrow pits will be backfilled with rejected construction wastes (unserviceable materials) compacted
and will be given a turfing or vegetative cover on the surface and where it is not possible, then excavation
slope should be smoothened, and depression is filled in such a way that it looks more or less like the original
ground surface.
(ii) during works execution, the project proponent shall ensure preservation of trees during piling of
materials; spreading of stripping material to facilitate water percolation and allow natural vegetation growth;
re-establishment of previous natural drainage flows; improvement of site appearance; digging of ditches to
collect runoff; and plantation may be carried out wherever feasible or pit may be developed for water storage;
(iii) appropriate endemic plant species for the planting programme should be selected in consultation
with the local Forest Department if the area is to be afforested and they should be regularly monitored, and
mortality replacement be carried out as and when required;
(iv) The project proponent shall keep record of photographs of various stages i.e., before using materials
from the location (pre-project), for the period borrowing activities (construction phase) and after
rehabilitation (post development), to ascertain the pre and post borrowing status of the area.
7. Monitoring of extraction, sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth.-
(1) The Central Government in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change shall carry out
periodic monitoring before, during, and after extraction, sourcing, borrowing of ordinary earth for the linear project to
ensure that the necessary environmental safeguards have been put in place as set out in this Appendix.
(2) The extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth for the linear project shall be monitored till the
extraction is carried out.
(3) An officer authorised in this behalf by the Central Government shall inspect the site and provide a closure
report after ensuring the site has been redeveloped satisfactorily.
(4) The closure report shall be submitted along with comparative pre and post photographs and thereafter, the
monitoring of the project shall be required.'.
[F. No. IA3-22/5/2024-IA.III]
RAJAT AGARWAL, Jt. Secy.
Note.—The principal notification was published in the Gazette of India, vide number S.O. 1533(E), dated the
14th September, 2006 and was last amended vide the notification number S.O. 523(E), dated the 29th January, 2025.