Ranpur: As stone smugglers have become extra-active and the district administration shows an apathetic attitude towards its protection, the famous Gobardhan hill is facing the spectre of destruction, a report said.
According to sources, the Gobardhan hill located near Nilapalli village of Kulasar panchayat under Ranpur tehsil in Nayagarh district has rich deposits of black stones. However, the hill has been destroyed over past several years by stone mafia through dynamite explosions. Black stones are blasted out massively from the hill and smuggled to other parts of the state as well as outside areas.
Illegal blasting causes damage to nearby houses and farmlands. Houses have developed cracks because of frequent tremors caused in the surrounding areas and are hit by pieces of stone during blasting, local villagers alleged.
Farmlands in nearby areas of Gobardhan hill are the worst-affected as heavy amounts of dust particles get deposited and seal pores, thereby reducing the percolation rate of water into soil. Unhindered blasting in the hill also causes direct damage to crops. Adding to their woes, illegal blasting at times injures local villagers.
Even after the expiry of the lease period, illegal blasting continues and the local administration remain a mute spectator as if it has no control over stone mafia who are active in the region, a report said.
The Gobardhan hill the abode of its presiding deity Giri Gobardhan. It is so believed that, in case of drought-like conditions, the deity helps out local farmers by causing rainfall. Moreover, in the absence of pasturelands, cattle of nearby villages go to hilltop for grazing.
Reacting to this, local villagers such as Binod Sahoo, Krushna Chandra Mohanty, Banamali Mohanty, Rabindra Nayak, Pushpalata Barik and Rasmita Manjari Behera, said, “Earlier, some people were breaking up black stones manually and later Gobardhan hill is being leased out to private parties, for over past four years”.
Despite strong opposition from villagers and after running from pillar to post, blasting activity still continues. Although the local sub-collector has received a memorandum in this regard, the district administration plans to lease out Gobardhan hill again.
Sub-Collector Lagnajit Rout said, “We have not yet received any complaint from local villagers on this issue. However, the administration will take care not to allow any blasting”.
What the forest act says:
Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 provides for conservation of forests and matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto. It was further amended and enacted by the Parliament in 1988 to control and prevent further deforestation of forest covers.