CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a four-member fact-finding committee to examine allegations of mining beyond lease area and excess extraction by the lessee of Utteipur sand quarry 2 in Baitarani river under Dhamnagar tehsil of Bhadrak district.
NGT’s East Zone Bench in Kolkata felt the “matter requires consideration” and formed the committee on Wednesday on the petition filed by Bhagabat Sahoo and four other residents of the area. The petitioners alleged use of machines (excavators) when permission is only for manual mining (only through labour and no machine to be used for mining the sand and mining during monsoon season while the same is banned). Advocate Sankar Prasad Pani and Advocate Ashutosh Padhy represented the petitioners.
The bench of B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Arun Kumar Verma (Expert Member) said, “Considering the allegations made, we deem it appropriate to constitute a fact-finding committee to elicit the veracity of the allegations. The committee shall inspect the site in question and submit its report within four weeks.”
Senior scientists of Odisha State Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority besides Bhadrak collector or his representative not below the rank of additional district magistrate are part of the committee.