Jojari River: SC Curbs New Industries, Orders Mining SIT

Jojari River Pollution: Supreme Court Halts New Industrial Permissions Near Rivers, Orders SIT Into Illegal Bajri Mining

In Re: 2 Million Lives at Risk, Contamination in Jojari River, Rajasthan 2026 INSC 1203 Decided 26 October 2026

Published: 12 November 2026 · NyayVidhan · 4 min read

In Re: 2 Million Lives at Risk, Contamination in Jojari River, Rajasthan, the Supreme Court restrained the State of Rajasthan from permitting new industrial units along or near the river ecosystem until the High Flood Line and buffer zones are scientifically determined, with a 100-metre protective zone and no Red Category industry within 500 metres (para 24(A)). Deprecating the Mining Department's apparent attempt to legitimise illegal riverbed mining through later leases, it ordered a Special Investigation Team (paras 22, 24(B)). The matter is part-heard (para 27).

Key holdings

No new industrial permissions near the rivers until the High Flood Line and buffer zones are fixed (para 24(A)).

A 100-metre protective zone; no Red Category industry within 500 metres (para 24(A)).

A later lease does not answer earlier illegal mining; procedure is no substitute for safeguards (paras 20-21).

SIT within three days on organised illegal bajri mining, including officials' role (para 24(B)).

Earlier directions do not oust the NGT's appellate jurisdiction over an RSPCB closure order (para 32).

Judgment digest by NyayVidhan: a summary of the court's judgment, not its text. The judgment itself is the authoritative version.

Brief Facts

The proceedings concern the continuing degradation of the Jojari-Bandi-Luni river ecosystem (para 1). On 29 September 2026, on reports of the High-Level Ecosystem Oversight Committee, the Court directed removal of unauthorised discharge points, enforcement against illegal industries and mining and a Comprehensive Resolution Plan with timelines (paras 1-2). The Committee's new Note objected to the Water Resources Department's proposed redetermination of the rivers' widths by the flow of sewage: at Bhituja and Ajit in District Balotra, recorded widths of about 1,172 and 794 metres could shrink to about eight metres (paras 4-5). It flagged unscientific bajri mining, including five contiguous plots at Village Kanana spanning 458.6 hectares (para 8), and slow progress on Common Effluent Treatment Plants and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) in the Jodhpur, Pali and Balotra clusters (para 11).

Questions before the Court (framed by NyayVidhan)

Can river widths be redetermined by sewage flow, and what protection applies until the High Flood Line is fixed?
Does a later mining lease over a riverbed mined illegally answer that illegal mining?
What further steps on compliance, groundwater and ZLD did the Court require?
Do the Court's earlier directions bar a statutory appeal to the NGT against an RSPCB closure order?

Submissions

For the State of Rajasthan. Redetermining river widths by sewage flow was misconceived; the State would grant no permissions for new industries until the High Flood Line and buffer zones are lawfully determined (para 13).

For the applicants. The Jodhpur Pollution Control and Research Foundation asked to place its 4 MLD ZLD proposal, seeking financial assistance, before the State (para 14). A party appearing in person, calling the Balotra block a Dark Zone/Over-Exploited Area, sought a moratorium on new textile industries (paras 15-17).

For Bherawa Textile Industries Pvt. Ltd. The RSPCB's closure order of 18 August 2026 is an independent action for the NGT to examine under Section 16(c) of the NGT Act (paras 28-29).

Court's Findings

River widths and a protective zone

On the State's concession, the Court restrained it from permitting new industrial units along or near the riverine ecosystem until the High Flood Line and buffer zones are scientifically determined, having regard to the Revenue and Water Resources Department records. A further 100-metre zone is to be kept on either side of the recorded outer boundaries, with no Red Category industry within 500 metres (para 24(A)).

A later lease does not cure illegal mining

A lease granted by the prescribed procedure does not show that mining is environmentally sustainable; over an area once mined illegally, an independent, scientific assessment of cumulative impact is needed (para 20). Lease procedure and mining safeguards are distinct; the former cannot be a substitute for the latter (para 21). The Court deprecated the Mining Department's apparent attempt to legitimise illegal riverbed mining and will consider action against officers found responsible (para 22). A Special Investigation Team, headed by an officer not below Inspector General of Police, is to be formed within three days to probe organised illegal bajri mining, its networks, beneficiaries and any role of public officials (para 24(B)-(C)).

Compliance, groundwater and ZLD

Starting administrative processes is not fulfilment; implementation within definite timelines is required (para 18). The State must answer the Note of the party in person; the Central Ground Water Authority is impleaded to report on groundwater in Jodhpur, Balotra and Pali; the grievance mechanism must take anonymised complaints on illegal bajri mining; and the State must frame a policy of financial assistance for ZLD plants and plan a reuse pipeline network (para 24(D)-(H)).

The NGT's appellate jurisdiction

The orders of 18 March and 29 May 2026, which keep closed units shut without the Court's leave, cannot be construed as extinguishing the NGT's statutory appellate jurisdiction over an independent RSPCB order; that adjudication is distinct from permission to resume (paras 31-32).

Legal Principle

Grant of a mining lease by the prescribed procedure is distinct from compliance with environmental safeguards and does not, by itself, answer earlier illegal riverbed mining without an independent assessment of cumulative impact. Directions keeping closed units shut do not extinguish the NGT's statutory appellate jurisdiction over an independent regulatory order (paras 20-21, 32).

NyayVidhan's view · Practice note

Why It Matters

For industries in the Jodhpur, Pali and Balotra clusters, the order freezes new industrial permissions near the three rivers until the High Flood Line and buffer zones are fixed, and adds a 100-metre zone and a 500-metre bar on Red Category units (para 24(A)). For mining lessees, the Court held it necessary to ascertain whether leases over stretches once mined illegally were assessed for river flow, replenishment and cumulative impact (para 21). Units closed under the Court's earlier orders keep the NGT appeal against an independent RSPCB order, but that appeal does not by itself let them resume against the Court's directions (para 32).

Editorial comment by the NyayVidhan Editorial Desk. It is not part of the Court's judgment and is not legal advice.