Rourkela: Illegal stone quarrying has touched a new high in Sundargarh district with the mushrooming of dozens of unlicensed stone quarries, even as the administration cools its heels by not cracking down on the menace.
The state exchequer continues to lose lakhs of rupees due to the illegal trade while unchecked blasting is leading to a drastic rise in pollution levels.
A case in point is the stone quarry at Kaparkanda near Bhalulata under Bisra block. Even though the stone quarry has not been leased out to anybody, hundreds of truckloads of boulders and gravel are being smuggled to neighbouring states like Jharkhand as well as several places across the state. The illegal activity has been going on under the very nose of tehsil officials for the last one year. Still, the administration neither takes any measures to stop illegal quarrying and smuggling nor has it floated tenders to lease out the quarry.
The residents alleged that a village-level worker (VLW) facilitates the illegal functioning of the quarry by greasing the palms of officials. The VLW gets over Rs 1 lakh every month from the quarry owner, it is alleged. The local revenue inspector is also involved in the illegal activity, they added.
They rued that life has become unbearable for them due to the pollution created by the stone quarry. The noise created by blasting in the quarry flouts pollution norms. The blasting even continues at night forcing people to suffer from sleeplessness.
The residents demanded that the authorities conduct a probe into the illegal functioning of the quarry and smuggling of stones and take stern action against the persons involved in the illegal activity.
When contacted, Bisra tehsildar Nibedita Pradhan said there are two quarries adjacent to each other at Bhalulata and Kaparanda. The quarry at Bhalulata was leased out recently. Measures were being taken to give the Kaparanda quarry on lease.
She added that action would be taken against the guilty after a probe is conducted by the RI.
It may be mentioned here that the Kaparanda quarry has been leased out every year for the last 20 years. But, it was not leased out this year for the reasons best known to the concerned officials. PNN
