HC seeks govt action on Singareni overburden soil diversion plea

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court directed the state govt to take action on the alleged illegal diversion of overburden soil from the Ramagundam RG-III open cast mine in Peddapalli district for the construction of the Greenfield Highway between Mancherial and Warangal, being executed by MEIL.The petition was filed by Putta Mukesh, a resident of Erukulagudem village near the mine, who alleged that nearly 40 lakh cubic metres of overburden soil, valued at around Rs 22 crore, was transported over the past six months in collusion with officials of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) without statutory permissions and in violation of the Mines Act, the Mineral Concession Rules and the Environment (Protection) Act.Disposing of the matter recently, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy directed the authorities to consider the petitioner’s representation and take action in accordance with the law after hearing all concerned parties. The court also ordered issuance of notices to the petitioner, SCCL, MEIL and other stakeholders before any decision is taken.The petitioner alleged that the overburden soil, meant for backfilling the mine, was instead diverted for highway works. He further claimed that despite repeated representations submitted between Nov 2025 and March 2026, officials failed to act.Counsel appearing for SCCL submitted before the court that directions could be issued to the authorities to act on the petitioner’s Feb 2026 representation.