CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a joint committee comprising senior Government officials to probe into allegations of indiscriminate sand mining in Subarnarekha river causing environmental degradation in Jaleswar tehsil of Balasore district.
The sand mining covering over 26 acre was resulting in depletion of water level, change in the course of the river and obstruction of the natural flow by wooden bridges and approach road within the river. Besides, villagers of Panchughanta are being exposed to severe air pollution due to transportation of excavated sand in open trucks through the village.
The direction came when the green panel was hearing an application moved by advocate Sankar Prasad Pani on behalf of Laxmidhar Pallai and two others of Panchughanta village through video conferencing on Tuesday.
The NGT’s Principal Bench of Justice SP Wangdi (Judicial Member), Dr Nagin Nanda (Expert Member) and Siddhanta Das (Expert Member) said, “Having regard to the seriousness of the allegations, we deem it essential to constitute a committee comprising District Magistrate, Balasore, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Odisha State Pollution Control Board and Regional Office of the MoEF&CC, who shall jointly inspect the area in question, verify on the factual aspects set out by the applicant in the application.”The tribunal directed for inspection of the site within 15 days and listed the case for further hearing on July 30.