BHUBANESWAR: Under scanner for his alleged involvement in illegal mining of black stone at Bichhakhandi hillock in Jajpur district, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Kumar Das said he was wrongly indicted in the matter.
“Mining in the hillock has been going on for the last 40 years. I had sealed more than 100 crushers and imposed hefty penalty on the crusher units and illegal mines between 2016 and 2020. But why are mining activities of four decades being depicted as if they were carried out in four years,” Das said.
Das’ response came in the wake of a preliminary inquiry report submitted by the Vigilance Directorate on illegal mining on Bichhakhandi hillock following direction of Odisha Lokayukta. Preliminary investigation by Vigilance Directorate revealed, illegal mining in large scale had been carried out on the hillock under Dharmasala tehsil and the leaseholders in collusion with revenue officials posted from time-to-time in the area during the lease period had resorted to plundering of minerals from Bichhakhandi.
The Vigilance had named six revenue officials including Das, the then collector of Jajpur, three former tehsildars and two ex-revenue inspectors besides eight lease holders in its preliminary inquiry report.
As per the report, illegal mining of black stone had been carried out in 16 mines, including four stone quarries, which were not even leased out from 2015-16 to 2019-20. “It was found that 1,49,971 cubic metre of black stone were excavated from the four quarries not leased out which would have generated royalty of around `195 crore during the four-year period,” the inquiry report stated.
It was learnt no rate of penalty has been specified in the guiding rules for minor minerals for such violations and decided by the imposing authority on a case-to-case basis. In the remaining 12 quarries, excess mining of 3,81,849 cubic metre of black stone that would have fetched royalty of around `12.91 crore has been detected, the report mentioned.
Meanwhile, the Lokayukta has issued notices to revenue officials and lease holders asking them to submit their explanation on or before the next hearing scheduled to be held on June 23. The anti-corruption ombudsman has also made it clear the notices on the revenue officials should be served through the additional chief secretary (ACS) of Revenue and Disaster Management department and on the lease holders through the Jajpur collector.
The ACS has also been asked to submit his views. “I have not received any notice yet. I will submit my explanation as and when I receive the notice, if any,” added Das.