Srinagar, April 30 -- The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed a plea by the residents of village Pariswani in Baramulla, claiming that they were being pushed to starvation after being stopped from mining sand and stones from a local stream -their primary source of livelihood for generations.

The villagers had approached the court claiming that hundreds of families depended entirely on extracting sand, 'bajri' (gravel) and stones from a local 'Nallah' (stream) and adjoining land. They argued that this was not a commercial venture but a matter of survival, with no alternative employment in the area.

According to the petition, the sudden halt in extraction, coupled with refusal by authorities to accept royalty payments, ...