Bhubaneswar: The Eastern Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Dhenkanal Collector and District Magistrate (DM) and the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) to appear before it, either physically or via videoconference, September 16, 2026, in connection with a case involving the alleged encroachment of government land and illegal mining activities.
The NGT issued the direction August 3 while hearing a petition filed by Youth United for Sustainable Environment Trust.
The Bench, comprising Judicial Member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Expert Member Dr A Senthil Vel and Expert Member Ishwar Singh, heard submissions from the Jajpur DM, the Dhenkanal DM and the Dhenkanal DFO in response to an earlier order on the issue.
Although the officials informed the Bench during the hearing that a site inspection had confirmed the encroachment of government land, no detailed affidavit was filed explaining the extent of the encroachment, the identity of the encroachers or the action taken to remove the illegal occupation, according to the tribunal.
“The Bench observed that the responses submitted by the Dhenkanal DM and the DFO were inadequate and failed to specify when the encroachment took place, who was responsible, how much government land had been occupied, whether the land formed part of Gramya Jungle, and the steps initiated to clear the encroachments,” senior advocate Sankar Prasad Pani, who appeared for the petitioner, said.
The tribunal directed both the Dhenkanal Collector and the DFO to file additional affidavits at least one day before the next hearing.
“The affidavits must clearly state the quantity of minerals extracted illegally from the encroached land, the remedial measures already taken or proposed, and other relevant details,” it ordered.
While exempting the Jajpur Collector from personal appearance until further orders, the tribunal directed the Dhenkanal Collector and the DFO to appear before it, either physically or through videoconferencing, at the next hearing scheduled for September 16, 2026.
The tribunal also ordered that a copy of its directions be emailed to the Dhenkanal Collector and the DFO to ensure timely compliance.
