Jajpur: Rampant illegal mining of black stones from quarries in Aruha panchayat under Dharmasala tehsil in Jajpur district has not only put the lives of hundreds of students of a primary school to imminent hazards but also raised concerns over the safety of trains (and passengers) plying on the nearby tracks, a report stated. Locals alleged that black stones are being extracted from a quarry on a plot (no-2677), through blasting of explosives, which is situated nearby of Tarakasuni Primary School in Aruha panchayat. The miners while mining stones never spare a thought about the safety of the children.
Moreover, black stones are also being extracted from four other quarries in the panchayat where a rail line, farmlands and the school are situated in close vicinity. The deafening sound during explosive blasts at the quarries sparks fear among the children, while the pollutants emanating from there and adjoining crusher units is seriously affecting their health.
Peeved at the state of affairs, the locals have made a written complaint to the Jajpur Collector demanding immediate closure of the illegal black stone quarries and stringent legal action against the smugglers. They have also filed similar complaints before the Director of the Minor Minerals department, the Principal Secretary of the Steel and Mines department and the regional officer of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) at Kalinganagar.
Residents alleged that black stone loot from the quarries in Aruha panchayat has become rampant in complete violation of pollution norms. This is happening as revenue officials have failed to collect penalties from the leaseholders based on satellite mapping of the mines carried out earlier. They alleged that two black stone quarries – BSQ-2 quarry number 16/16-17 and 34/21-22 – are situated at a distance of 500 metres from the school.
Similarly, the BSQ-1 quarry number 10/17- 18, quarry number-35/21-22 and quarry number -36/21-22 are situated at a distance of 200 metres from the railway line. The mining of black stones from the quarries near the railway track has raised concerns over the safety of the railway track and the trains running on it. Moreover, four stone crusher units functioning on plot nos2733, 2594, 2704 and 2705 near the black stone quarries have resulted in heavy air and sound pollution. This has severely hit studies of the students and seriously affected their health. This has angered the residents as over 100 villagers, including Nirmal Nayak, Harihar Sahu, Pratap Rana, Anand Behera, Pramod Behera, Anam Behera, Sahadev Rana, Mohan Nayak, Chittaranjan Jena and others have lodged written complaint with the district Collector.
Until a year ago, the Minor Minerals Department used to function under the Revenue Department. But now it has got a separate office at Jajpur. The office is headed by a deputy director with five officers to support him. It is alleged that illegal mining and smuggling of minor minerals like murrams, black stones, sand, laterite stones have become rampant in Jajpur district after the establishment of this office.
Residents have also alleged that illegal black stone mining and smuggling is not only limited to Aruha panchayats, but similar loot of the black stones worth crores are also taking place from Dankari, Rahadpur, Bichhakhandi hills under the Dharmasala tehsil. They said that a firm, VCI Industries Private Ltd, took land from the state government for the establishment of its plant, but instead used the land for murram mining and smuggled murrams worth Rs 20 crores outside
