Khaira: Days after the NGT issued a directive halting illegal stone mining, Balasore collector K Sudarshan Chakraborty and SP B Jugal Kishore visited stone mines under Khaira tehsil in Balasore and Kaptipada tehsil in Mayurbhanj Monday.
The visit struck panic among the mines operators.
The collector and the SP were accompanied by tehsildar Pradip Kumar Sahu, additional tehsildar Bibhas Ranjan Panigrahi and ranger Babita Soren.
The officials first visited mines under Khaira where they were shocked to see excavators engaged in mining activities.
Vehicles were operating as usual on a road laid through the Sarisua hill.
They came to know that some stone mafia was using the hilly road to transport illegally mined material.
Hours before the visit of the Collector and the SP, some stone mafias managed to hide their excavators, dumpers and blasting units in the bushy area, alleged the locals.
Notably, Khaira tehsildar Pradip Kumar Sahu launched a crackdown on illegal stone mining October 5 and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 on 10 stone mines at Sarisua hill. Thereafter, stone quarrying had been curbed in the area to a great extent, it was said..
The crackdown on the stone mining had come after Orissa Post published a report about illegal mining in Sarisua hills. A team of officials of the forest department led by sub-collector Nilu Mohapatra visited the stone mines September 25 and closed some stone crushing units at the foothill.
The administration realised that quarry owners had been carrying out stone mining activities in violation of environmental norms.
Local reporters had also got hints about stone mafia nexus with some unscrupulous revenue officials in the region.
