PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Tuesday temporarily stopped a lease holder from using mercury in gold mining in Khushal Garh area of Kohat.

A bench consisting of PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Wiqar Ahmad issued notices to director general of mining and a private lease holder of placer gold mines, seeking their response to a petition filed by some residents of Khushal Garh against use of mercury in gold mining in the area.

The petitioners have termed use of mercury in gold mining an environmental hazard that results in contami-nating air, polluting the Indus River and also affecting agricultural land adjacent to the mines.

The petition was jointly filed by former provincial minister Amjad Khan Afridi and 13 others as public interest litigation, contending that using and dumping mercury were poisonous to humans, animals, flora and fauna and aquatic life and also had a negative impact on agricultural lands.

During course of hearing, PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim also observed that use of mercury in mining was prohibited throughout the world.

The petitioners requested the court to declare as unconstitutional use of mercury and other environment polluting activities of miners as a healthy environment was fundamental right of everyone after the passage of Constitution (Twenty Sixth) Amendment Act.

They requested the court torestrain the official respondents and private contractor from polluting the environment by burning mercury into open air, dumping the same in agricultural and other properties and throwing the waste into the Indus River.

They also sought declaration ofthe courtthattheinaction of relevant government officials was violative of fundamental rights, illegal and without lawful authority.

The respondents in the petition are KP government through chief secretary, secretary of mines and minerals, KP Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), director general mines and minerals, Kohat deputy commissioner, its district police officer (DPO) and the lease-holder company Himalayan Earth Exploration.

Advocate Nouman Muhib Kakakhel appeared for the petitioners and argued that the practice was violative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environmental ProtectionAct and Minamata Convention on Mercury, a multilateral environmental agreement that addressed specific human activities that were contributing to widespread mercury pollution.

He said that a healthy environment was a fundamental right by virtue of Constitution 26th Amendment and the respondents were bound to obey, protect and enforce laws, policies and SOPs governing the subject matter.

He stated that land in Khushal Garh was one of the fittest for agriculture in the area.

He said that of late Gold Placer Mines were discovered in the area, which were advertised and auctioned by the government.

He said that the lease of the mines spread over 35 square kilometres was allotted to the private respondent on Nov 8, 2024.

He argued that in the lease granting order it was mandatory for the private companyto ensure that the mining should be environmentfriendly.

He claimed that the contractor started mining in the rented area without following SOPs and state of the art placer gold mining.

He stated that the practice had been damaging the environment through water and soil as well as air making it an area unfit for the inhabitants to survive in due to use of mercury while separating gold from byproducts it came with.

Mr Kakakhel contended that there were many best suited and environmentfriendly procedures available for mining of placer gold, but the contractor was not utilising the same and instead relying on mercury burning.

He cited several side effects of mercury, stating that its exposure to humans could cause neurological damage, skin infections, impaired immune function and reproductive harms, etc.