Stone quarrying near Kuldiha comes under NGT scrutiny
CUTTACK: Grant of permit for extraction of stone from Mirigini stone quarry in Nilagiri tehsil of Balasore district has come under the scrutiny of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) following allegations that blasting activities will have an impact on the adjoining Kuldhia wildlife sanctuary and human habitation.
NGT’s East Zone Bench in Kolkata on Thursday issued notices returnable within four weeks to the deputy director general of Forest (Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change), chairman (State Environment Impact Assessment Authority), member secretary (Odisha State Pollution Control Board), district collector (Balasore) and tehsildar (Nilagiri).
The Tehsildar of Nilagiri had issued the quarry permit in favour of Subarnarekha Port Pvt Ltd on July 26, 2022, for the extraction of 21,252 cubic metres of stone from the quarry for a period of one year. The bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) issued the notices on a petition filed by Sukanta Behera, a resident of Balasore district. Advocate Sankar Prasad Pani made submissions on the petitioner’s behalf. The bench fixed August 29 for consideration of the matter along with the responses from the respondents.
As per NGT’s order the petition had stated that an anganwadi, primary school, health and wellness centre, community centre and many houses under Prime Minister Awas Yojana have been constructed in the close vicinity of the proposed quarry and blasting activities will have a serious impact on the habitations and structures.
It was also alleged the quarry activity will deplete the groundwater level in the adjoining area leading to water scarcity. It was stated the local villagers have filed their objection before the local authorities on April 12, 2023, but nothing has happened till date. It was further stated that the Tenda reserve forest is situated within one km of the proposed stone quarry and the Kuldhia wildlife sanctuary within one-km radius.