CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered probe by a Special Task Force (STF) into large-scale illegal laterite stone mining in Khurda district.
A six-member bench of NGT headed by chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel directed Home Secretary, Director General of Police and Chairman, State Pollution Control Board to hold a joint meeting within two weeks and constitute an appropriate STF to consider registering a criminal case for investigation of the crime in question, identify the violators and bring them to justice.
The special bench issued the direction basing on a petition filed by Bidu Bhusan Harichandan, a resident of Tapang and Dilip Samantaray, a social activist from Ranpur.
Illegal mining was going on at 40 different sites (26 of them on land belonging to Puri Jagannath Temple) spread over 500 acre encompassing several villages including Tapang, Anda and JhinkiJhari under Nijigarh Tapang panchayat. Apart from investigation by STF, the bench stressed the need for further preventive and remedial action for protection of environment and enforcement of related laws including recovery of compensation and restoration measures.
Advocate Sankar Prasad Pani, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, submitted that large-scale unregulated and unscientific illegal mining is being carried out in the areas affecting public revenue as well as environment and public health. The mining is being undertaken without any authority of the land owner - the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration.
He further stated that there is no clearance of environmental regulators - State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and SPCB. Besides, no remedial action has been taken. “Violation is of high magnitude. From the estimate of cost of restoration which is said to be around `12 crore, illegal mining may be of several crores”, he said.
The bench in its December 24, 2021 order also directed the joint committee formed earlier comprising MoEF&CC (Regional Office at Bhubaneswar), CPCB, State PCB, SEIAA, Odisha and District Magistrate, Khurda to meet within two weeks to plan remedial action in this regard.
“The State PCB will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The committee may undertake visit to the site, interact with the stakeholders and plan further action. The committee may also ascertain the identity of the law violators in coordination with the investigators or otherwise and proceed against them for enforcement of environmental norms, including stopping the illegal mining”, the bench further said in the order.