Kendrapara: The Bhitarkanika National Park has been declared a prohibited zone for protection of the wildlife and biological diversity in the wetland.
However, this has created plenty of opportunity for the miscreants to smuggle coal through the wildlife sanctuary.
Defying the patrolling by forest officials and district police, the miscreants are smuggling coal brought from Dhamra port outside of the district. The miscreants are not the only ones involved in coal smuggling.
They are also engaging the poor villagers in loading and unloading works in exchange of a few bucks. Observers pointed out that the illegal business of coal transportation has given rise to criminal activities in the area.
Speaking on coal smuggling, a resident Srikant Kumar Mahalik of Rajnagar said that the coal lifted from Dhamra port is smuggled through the Bhitarkanika wetland till Cuttack.
The members of the racket have been carrying out this illegal business since a long period.
Everyday coal loaded in two to five trucks leave for their destination. The business is mostly carried out at night to avoid getting caught by the police and other law enforcement agencies, he said.
The Brahmani river bank near Paramanandapur village under Khamar panchayat is the hub of this illegal trade. He said that coal reaches in ships to Dhamra port.
Later, the miscreants and their workers steal the coal from the ships, load them in boats and bring it to Bhitarkanika ferrying across the water bodies.
The coal is then unloaded at Nalitapatia and Khola under the prohibited zone of the wetland and is packed in sacks to smuggle them outside, he said.
The local residents are increasingly getting involved in this business due to their poverty. It has been observed that this illegal business has led to spurt in crimes at a later stage, he said.
He apprehended that the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary will turn into a paradise for the coal smugglers if this illegal business is left unchecked. A villager requesting anonymity said that everybody is aware of this illegal business.
He wondered how coal smuggling could take place inside the wildlife sanctuary when the Talachua Marine Police Station is at just 1.5 kilometre distance from this place.
Moreover, forest and district police officials are conducting round the clock patrolling and various toll gates also fall on the route. Coal smuggling has given rise to drug smuggling and illegal migrations in the area.
The illegal migrants are encroaching upon large tracts of forest lands and setting up prawn gheries without requisite permission. The effluents discharged from these gheries are destroying the crops grown by the farmers and the flora and fauna of the area.
When contacted, Jagnyadatt Pati, divisional forest officer (DFO), Rajnagar said that he is not aware of the development.
Tapan Kumar Nayak, IIC of Rajnagar police station said that action is being taken against illegal coal business as in past two drivers were arrested and coal from two trucks seized while being smuggled to Cuttack.
PNN
