You prove mining beyond the lease area by putting two things side by side: the official boundary of the lease, taken from the lease deed, lease map and the coordinates in the mining plan or environmental clearance, and the actual location of the pits on the ground. The gap between them is the breach. Get the papers by RTI, plot the coordinates on a map, compare them with dated photos and satellite images, and then ask the mining department and the tehsildar for a joint demarcation and measurement. A measured finding is what makes officers, and if needed the NGT, act.
This guide is about one specific and very common kind of illegal mining: a quarry or mine that holds a genuine lease but digs past its boundary, below its permitted depth, or more than its permitted quantity. It explains what the boundary legally is, the documents that fix it, how to gather proof, who measures, and what the lease holder will say in reply.
For the wider picture of complaints against mines, read our hub page on illegal mining near your village. If river sand is involved, see illegal sand mining.
हिंदी में सारांश
अगर कोई खदान अपने पटà¥à¤Ÿà¥‡ की सीमा से बाहर खà¥à¤¦à¤¾à¤ˆ कर रही है, तो इसे साबित करने के लिठदो चीज़ों की तà¥à¤²à¤¨à¤¾ करनी होती है: पटà¥à¤Ÿà¤¾ विलेख, पटà¥à¤Ÿà¥‡ का नकà¥à¤¶à¤¾ और खनन योजना या परà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤µà¤°à¤£ सà¥à¤µà¥€à¤•à¥ƒà¤¤à¤¿ में दरà¥à¤œ निरà¥à¤¦à¥‡à¤¶à¤¾à¤‚क, और ज़मीन पर गडà¥à¤¢à¥‹à¤‚ की असल जगह। आरटीआई से ये कागज़ मà¤à¤—ाà¤à¤, निरà¥à¤¦à¥‡à¤¶à¤¾à¤‚क नकà¥à¤¶à¥‡ पर लगाà¤à¤ और तारीख वाली फोटो व उपगà¥à¤°à¤¹ चितà¥à¤°à¥‹à¤‚ से मिलान करें। फिर ज़िला खनन अधिकारी और तहसीलदार से संयà¥à¤•à¥à¤¤ सीमांकन और नाप की माà¤à¤— करें। पटà¥à¤Ÿà¥‡ से बाहर खनन खान और खनिज अधिनियम की धारा 21 के तहत अपराध है, और परà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤µà¤°à¤£ सà¥à¤µà¥€à¤•à¥ƒà¤¤à¤¿ केवल पटà¥à¤Ÿà¤¾ कà¥à¤·à¥‡à¤¤à¥à¤° के लिठहोती है, इसलिठà¤à¤¨à¤œà¥€à¤Ÿà¥€ में à¤à¥€ मामला बन सकता है।
The essentials
The lease map is the starting point
Nothing can be proved until you have the official boundary, with khasra numbers and coordinates.
Coordinates beat descriptions
Latitude and longitude points in the mining plan or EC can be plotted on any phone map.
Satellite images show the timeline
Images from different years show when the pit crossed the line.
Demarcation must be official
A joint measurement by the mining and revenue departments is what a forum will rely on.
Depth and quantity count too
Digging below the permitted depth or taking more than allowed is also mining beyond the lease.
Outside the lease means outside the EC
Clearance covers only the leased area, so the NGT can hear the case.
How do I prove a mine is digging outside its lease?
By comparing the official boundary with the pit, and then getting the comparison confirmed by the authorities. Your own observation that "they have gone past the old boundary stone" starts the matter, but it will be argued away unless it is tied to the lease papers. So the first job is to get those papers. The second is to locate the pits precisely. The third is to make the mining department and the revenue staff measure on the ground, with you present if possible.
This is easier than it sounds. Lease maps and clearance documents now usually list the corners of the lease as coordinates. Any smartphone map can show those points. Stand at the edge of the pit, read your phone's location, and you will know within a few metres if the pit edge lies inside or outside the lease. That is not yet legal proof, but it tells you whether you have a case before you spend effort on one.
Where exactly is the lease boundary?
The boundary is fixed by three documents that should agree with each other. The lease deed lists the khasra or survey numbers and the area in hectares. The lease map, attached to the deed and to the approved mining plan, shows the outline with numbered boundary pillars. The mining plan and, usually, the environmental clearance give the coordinates of those pillars. Where the three disagree, that disagreement is worth noting in your complaint.
On the ground, the lease holder is expected to erect and maintain boundary pillars at each corner. Mining plans normally leave a safety strip inside the boundary unworked, and ask for benches and slopes to be kept stable at the edges, so a pit right up against the boundary line is itself a warning sign even before it crosses. Check the mining plan for the exact requirements of that lease.
The boundary is not only horizontal. The mining plan and EC also fix how deep the mine may go and how much it may extract each year. A quarry that stays inside its corners but digs far below the approved depth, or into the water table, or removes several times its permitted quantity, is mining beyond its lease in the vertical sense, and that is a breach too.
Documents to ask for by RTI
Address the RTI to the public information officer of the state mining department (the district office is usually quickest), the SEIAA and the State Board. Replies are due within 30 days.
Mining department
- Lease deed with schedule of khasra numbers
- Lease map with boundary pillars
- Approved mining plan, with coordinates and depth limits
- Monthly or annual production returns
- Number of transit passes issued, year by year
- Inspection, demarcation and penalty reports
SEIAA and State Board
- Environmental clearance with coordinates and quantity
- EC compliance reports filed by the lease holder
- Consent to establish and operate
- Inspection reports and complaints on file
Revenue office
- Land record for the khasra numbers dug
- Village revenue map
- Any earlier demarcation or encroachment report
How to prove mining beyond the lease boundary
Get the lease papers
File RTIs for the lease deed, lease map, mining plan coordinates, EC and production figures. If the reply is incomplete, file a first appeal within the time allowed.
Plot the boundary
Enter the pillar coordinates into a phone map or a free mapping tool and join them. You now have the lease outline on a satellite image.
Locate the pits
Walk or view the edge of the pits from safe ground and record location points, with dated photos facing the pit and the nearest pillar or landmark.
Build a timeline
Compare satellite images from different dates. Note the date by which the pit first crossed the plotted boundary and how far it has spread since.
Check the numbers
Compare production returns and transit passes with what you see: trucks counted, area dug, rough depth. A big mismatch suggests extraction from outside the lease.
Ask for joint demarcation
Write to the district mining officer and the tehsildar or SDM asking for joint demarcation of the lease against the khasra map and coordinates, and measurement of any area and volume dug outside. Ask to be informed of the date and to be present.
Complain with the comparison attached
Send the complaint to the mining officer and DM, with copies to the SEIAA, the State Board and the forest officer if forest land is affected, attaching your map, photos and timeline.
Escalate if needed
If the demarcation is not done, or is done badly, take the matter to the NGT with your comparison and the record of the authorities' failure.
Evidence of boundary breach and what each piece proves
| Evidence | What it proves | Weakness to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Lease map and coordinates (RTI) | The legal boundary | Old maps may lack coordinates; ask for the mining plan too |
| Location points at the pit edge | Where the digging actually is | Phone accuracy is a few metres; fine for a large breach |
| Dated satellite images | When the pit crossed the line and how it grew | Image dates must be noted; cloud and resolution vary |
| Drone photos or video | Current extent and depth, clearly | Must be flown lawfully and safely |
| Joint demarcation report | Official finding of the breach | Can be weak if done without notice or measurement |
| Production returns vs transit passes | Excess extraction | Needs both figures for the same period |
| Photos of moved or missing pillars | Attempt to blur the boundary | Compare with pillar positions in the lease map |
Can satellite images prove illegal mining?
They are very good at showing that a pit exists and when it grew, and fair at showing whether it crosses a plotted boundary. Free mapping tools offer historical imagery for many places, so you can often see the hill or field before the mine, the pit at the start of the lease, and its spread year by year. Save screenshots with the image date visible, and the coordinates of the points you compare.
Drone photos give a clearer, current picture than satellite images and can show depth and benches, but fly only where the rules allow and never over the working face or near blasting. Many village groups find a local surveyor or engineering college willing to help with a basic measurement, which adds weight to the complaint.
What satellite images cannot do on their own is settle a close dispute. If the claimed breach is a few metres, image resolution and alignment errors will be argued, and they will be right to argue. If the pit is fifty or a hundred metres outside the plotted boundary, the image speaks clearly. Either way, treat the images as the reason for an official survey, not a replacement for one. Our guide on using photos and RTI replies as NGT evidence explains how to present them.
What if the boundary pillars have been moved?
It happens, and it is one reason coordinates matter more than pillars. A pillar can be dug out and planted fifty metres further on overnight. A coordinate in the mining plan cannot be moved. If you see pillars that do not match the plotted coordinates, photograph them with location points and say so in the complaint.
Old residents' memory also helps here. Statements from villagers about where the pillars originally stood, supported by old photographs or the revenue map, can show that the pillars were shifted. Ask the demarcation team to fix the boundary from the coordinates and the revenue map, not from whatever pillars are now standing.
Mining below the permitted depth or above the permitted quantity
The mining plan and EC set a maximum depth and an annual quantity. Going below the depth can cut into groundwater, drain nearby wells and leave unstable slopes. Exceeding the quantity is a breach of the EC and, unless royalty was paid on it, a loss to the state. Both are mining beyond the lease in substance.
Depth is easiest to show by comparing the pit with the depth limit stated in the plan, and with signs such as standing water at the bottom of a pit that was meant to stay above the water table. If wells or hand pumps near the mine have dried up, read our guide on mining near a village or water source.
Quantity is shown by arithmetic. If the returns declare a modest output but the area and depth dug, or the trucks you have counted, imply far more, ask the mining department to measure the volume removed. Under section 21(5) of the MMDR Act the state can recover mineral raised without lawful authority, or its price.
The law on mining outside the lease
Mining is allowed only under and in accordance with a lease. Land outside the lease is land with no lease, so digging it is mining without lawful authority under section 21, with imprisonment, a fine, seizure of machinery and recovery of the mineral or its price.
Lease deeds and state rules usually allow the state to impose penalties, suspend or terminate a lease for breach of its terms, and bar the holder from future grants. The exact provisions differ by state.
The EC is granted for a defined area, quantity and depth. Mining outside it is mining without EC, which is an Environment (Protection) Act breach that the NGT can hear.
If the land outside the lease is forest, or a deemed forest, mining it also needs central approval under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, which a lease for adjoining land does not give.
Does it matter whose land the mine has spread into?
Yes, because the owner of the land decides which extra remedies are open. If the pit has spread into a private field, the owner has a civil claim for trespass and damage on top of the MMDR offence, and the revenue authorities can be asked to record the encroachment. If it has spread into gram sabha land, a pond or pasture, the SDM's powers under the state revenue code come in and the village as a whole is affected.
If the land outside the lease is forest, or has the character of a forest even if it is not recorded as one, the breach is also a forest offence and an unapproved diversion of forest land. That brings in the divisional forest officer and makes the NGT case stronger, since forest law is in Schedule I of the NGT Act. Our guide on what a deemed forest means explains when scrub and hill land count as forest.
Find out the class of the land from the revenue record before you file. A complaint that says "the quarry has dug 1.2 hectares of khasra 88, recorded as forest" carries much more weight than one that just says the quarry has expanded.
Who to complain to, and what to ask for
The district mining officer and the DM are the main addressees, with the tehsildar or SDM for demarcation. Send copies to the SEIAA and the MoEFCC regional office for the EC breach, the State Board, and the divisional forest officer if forest land is involved. One complaint with all of them as addressees prevents each office from saying the matter belongs to another.
Ask for specific actions: joint demarcation from the coordinates and revenue map, with notice to you; measurement of the area and volume dug outside the lease; recovery of the mineral's price; stoppage of mining outside the boundary; action on the lease under the state rules; and a written report. Attach your plotted map, the timeline of satellite images and dated photos.
Expect the first report to say "mining is within the lease". If you have done the comparison carefully, reply in writing pointing to the coordinates and asking how the pit at your location points can be inside the lease. That reply is often what forces a proper survey.
Taking a boundary breach to the NGT
Because the EC covers only the lease area, mining outside it is an environmental dispute the NGT can hear, within six months of the cause of action or, for compensation and restoration, within five years. Ongoing digging is a continuing cause of action, but do not sit on it. The tribunal usually forms a joint committee of the State Board, the mining department and the DM, sometimes with the MoEFCC regional office.
When Advocate B.K. Singh takes a boundary case to the NGT, he asks for the committee to be directed to carry out an instrument survey against the lease coordinates, not just a site visit, because a committee that only looks around can honestly report seeing a mine where a mine is allowed to be. The prayer should also ask the committee to measure the volume extracted outside the lease, so that compensation and recovery can be calculated.
If the committee's report is vague or misses the breach, file objections with your map and timeline. Our guide on objecting to a joint committee report explains how.
What the lease holder will usually say
Expect four answers. That the survey is wrong and the pit is inside the lease. That the digging outside was done by someone else, often a neighbouring lease holder or illegal miners. That the pits pre-date the lease. Or that the lease was extended or amended to include the land. Each has a straightforward test.
Survey disputes are settled by an instrument survey from the coordinates. "Someone else did it" is tested by the satellite timeline, which shows whether the pit grew outward from the lessee's own working face. "It was there before" is tested by images from before the lease began. "The lease was amended" is tested by asking for the amendment deed and the amended EC, because a lease extension without a matching EC still leaves the mining without clearance.
The quarry that walked into the orchard
Here's a made-up example. A stone quarry holds a lease of a few hectares on a hillside. Below it lie a farmer's orchard and a seasonal stream. Over three years the farmer watches the quarry's face move downhill until trees at the top of his orchard start falling into the pit.
He files RTIs and gets the lease map, mining plan and EC, which list the corner coordinates. Plotting them on a phone map shows the pit now extends well beyond the lower boundary, into his khasra numbers. Satellite images from four different years show the pit growing steadily outward from the quarry's own face. The production returns declare far less than the area dug implies.
His complaint asks for joint demarcation, measurement and recovery. The first report says mining is within the lease. He replies with the coordinates and images. When nothing more happens, he applies to the NGT. The joint committee surveys from the coordinates, confirms the breach and measures the volume. The tribunal directs that mining outside the lease stop, that the state recover the mineral's value and the board assess environmental compensation, and that the slope be stabilised and the land restored.
Before you allege a boundary breach
- Do you have the lease map and the pillar coordinates, not just the khasra numbers?
- Have you plotted the coordinates and checked the pit against them yourself?
- Are your photos and satellite images dated?
- Have you ruled out a neighbouring lease covering the same land?
- Have you asked for an official joint demarcation in writing?
- Is the land outside the lease forest, common land or a water body? Say so.
Related guides
If blasting at the quarry is damaging homes, read blasting damage from a quarry. If the mine has closed but left the land in ruins, see mine closure and restoration duties. On timing, see continuing cause of action in NGT cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is mining beyond the lease area?
Digging outside the boundary fixed in the mining lease, below the permitted depth, or above the permitted quantity. All three are treated as mining without lawful authority.
How do I get a copy of a mining lease map?
File an RTI with the state mining department asking for the lease deed, the lease map and the approved mining plan with boundary coordinates. The SEIAA can provide the EC, which usually lists coordinates too.
Who does the demarcation of a mining lease?
Usually the mining department with the revenue department (tehsildar, revenue inspector or patwari), measuring against the lease map, coordinates and the village revenue map.
Are satellite images accepted as evidence?
They are useful supporting evidence, especially for showing a timeline. For a close boundary dispute, an official instrument survey is still needed.
Is mining outside the lease an environmental violation?
Yes. The environmental clearance covers only the lease area, quantity and depth, so mining outside it is mining without EC.
What penalty applies for mining outside the lease?
Prosecution under section 21 of the MMDR Act, seizure of machinery, recovery of the mineral or its price, action on the lease under state rules and environmental compensation.
Can the lease be cancelled for mining outside the boundary?
State rules and lease terms usually allow suspension or termination for breach of lease conditions. Whether it happens depends on the state and the seriousness of the breach.
The pillars have been moved. What do I do?
Photograph them with location points and ask for demarcation from the coordinates and revenue map rather than from the existing pillars.
Can I go to the NGT if the mining department does nothing?
Yes, because mining outside the lease is mining without EC. File within six months of the cause of action, or within five years for compensation and restoration.
Can the mining be outside the lease if the trucks have valid passes?
Yes. Passes show a load was declared, not where it was dug. Excess passes or too few passes compared with the digging can both point to a breach.
How long does demarcation take after a complaint?
There is no fixed period. Follow up in writing after two to three weeks, and if nothing happens, escalate to the DM and, where EC is breached, to the NGT.
About the author
Advocate B.K. Singh, Founder & Principal Advocate, MCA, LL.B., LL.M.
Advocate B.K. Singh has practised for more than twenty years before the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the National Green Tribunal, and leads the environmental practice from offices in Dwarka (New Delhi) and Vaishali (Ghaziabad) with Advocate Sadhna Singh. Read his profile.
Think a mine has crossed its boundary?
Send the lease details if you have them, a few dated photos and your location points on WhatsApp, or call us. We will tell you what the papers show and what to do next.
This page gives general information about environmental law as it stood when it was last reviewed. It is not legal advice on your case and does not promise any result. Laws, rules, fees and time limits change, so check the current position for your matter before acting.
Have a question about your own case?
A guide can only go so far. Send us the notice, the order or a few photos, and we'll tell you where you stand, which authority or NGT bench deals with it and when the next step is due, in plain words.
