Sand mining - Unregulated and indiscriminate extraction of sand and other minor minerals leads to severe disruption of riverine and ecological systems by altering natural flow patterns, degrading riverbeds, destabilizing sediment composition, and depleting groundwater reserves. Such activities not only result in erosion, channel instability, and increased flood vulnerability, but

Note: This judgment formally closes the long‑running environmental PIL M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (W.P. (C) No. 13029/1985), which has since the 1980s driven major anti‑pollution measures in the National Capital Region, including the creation of the CAQM and implementation of GRAP. M.C.