CUTTACK: The committee formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to probe illegal extraction of morrum and laterite stones in the Tangi-Choudwar tehsil area of Cuttack district for a railway project has recommended penalty of Rs 42.45 crore on the construction firm.
The committee was constituted on November 23, 2023, by the NGT on the basis of a petition filed by one Srikanta Kumar Pakal and other residents of the area alleging illegal extraction of huge quantity of morrum and laterite stone from the area by the private party engaged for construction of earth bed for the third line railway track from Bhadrak to Nirgundi.
The committee had made on site inspection and placed the report as part of an affidavit filed by Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), nodal body for the committee, on Monday.
In the affidavit, member secretary OSPCB Dr Kailasam Murugesan stated that the committee had recommended recovery of environmental compensation of Rs 1.20 crore and a penalty of Rs 42.45 crore from the private party. While confirming illegal mining, the committee had observed that the private party had excavated morrum and laterite from nine plots without obtaining environmental clearance from the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
No Consent to Operate for extraction of morrum and laterite from the nine plots had been issued by OSPCB. The illegal extraction was also carried out from forest category land, Murugesan further stated in the affidavit.
The NGT’s East Zone bench of B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) adjourned the matter to March 20 to consider the findings and recommendations of the committee and allowed time till then for the Railways to file an affidavit on the matter.