Jajpur: A labourer was killed while another sustained critical injuries in a landslide at an illegal stone quarry in Anjira mouza adjoining Expressway-200, about 20 km from Chandikhole in this district Monday morning.
The deceased was identified as DharanidharaTarai (22), a native of Sandhapur village while the injured labourer was Ajay Jata (50) of Dahipur village.
Tarai was rushed to Cuttack-based SCB Medical College and Hospital where doctors pronounced him brought dead while Jata is undergoing treatment at the same hospital.
According to reports, the two labourers were busy loading stones onto a tractor when as large rocks came rolling down the quarry on a hill situated over a 51 acre forest land in Anjira mouza under Dharmasala tehsil.
The stone mafia first tried to suppress the incident and concealed the names of the contractor, tractor owner and the quarry owner to evade public
outcry.
Moreover, the police also allegedly did not reach the spot even after 12 hours of the incident with Jenapur police feigning ignorance on the development. The mafia even tried to cover the bloodstains at the mishap site with heaps of soil, it was learnt.
The incident comes at a time when illegal stone mining from hills with the tacit support of political persons has received widespread criticism from various quarters. Sources said Anjira being a forest land the local administration has not given its permission for mining in the region. However, stone smugglers in connivance with the local police, forest personnel and some political persons are operating over 30 illegal mines with impunity, according to reports.
The district labour department has no record on the number of labourers employed in the quarries or on their deaths during mining. This has been going on for 30 years as the administration and police have allegedly not taken any action against the wrongdoers.
According to reports, over 50 labourers have died during the last 10 years in various mishaps at stone quarries.
The stone smugglers have cleverly managed to hoodwink the people and the investigative agencies on the deaths, the reports said.
In the recent past, a truck driver Ratnakar Samal (Mathia) of Taranjia village died in a mishap April 23, 2015 while a labourer died in a landslide from Dankari hill in 2014.
In another incident, a compressor driver died while carrying out blasting on a hill at Aruha.
The compressor owner was arrested after reports were published in media.
DLO Kuber Behera said action would be taken on receipt of a complaint.
In evening, SDPO Jugal Kishore Das visited the spot and started an investigation while three persons were detained in this connection. PNN
