Khaira: With dates for three-tier panchayat polls drawing closer, loot of minor minerals like black stone, laterite stone and murram from Sarisua hill and adjoining government land under Khaira tehsil in Balasore district has increased manifold as revenue officials are preoccupied with electoral responsibilities.
It is alleged that the theft of the minor minerals has increased by 10 times and mafia are smuggling minerals to various destinations in exchange for a premium.
Moreover, to avoid raids on Sora-Kupari and KupariRanital road, the stone mafias are taking a detour by Kadaligadia- Kaptipada hilly road to smuggle the minerals to neighbouring Mayurbhanj and other districts. Environmentalists and nature lovers fear that if the administration hesitates to take steps then the Sarisua and other hills in the area will turn into barren land by the time elections are over.
Reports said that the administration has clamped Section-144 in 97 stone mines on Sarisua and adjoining hills following a direction by the National Green Tribunal.
As many as 50 mines have been shown closed in official records but they are operating illegally. As a result, the state government is losing precious revenue worth several crores.
The revenue which could have come into the government exchequer is going into the pockets of the mineral smugglers.
On the other hand, many of the miners who had applied to get lease of the mines three years back are yet to be given lease of any of the mines.
As a result, their security money to the tune of crores is lying with the government without actually giving lease of the mines to the applicants. It is alleged that only a handful of miners are involved in illegal mining from the hills.
This has sparked sharp resentment among the bonafide applicants who are yet to get lease of the mines.
Sources said that the illegal miners have stocked the illegally extracted stones near Bageipur at the foothills. The silence of the revenue officials has surprised many.
Earlier, officials of the level of sub-collector and senior district officials used to visit the quarries and crusher units and penalise the miners over irregularities.
However, their absence for a long time has only emboldened the illegal miners to carry out theft and smuggling of minor minerals with impunity. This is indicative of the stagnation gripping the administrative system.
The villagers on the foothill have alleged that hills could be saved if the administration spares some time to nab the mineral smugglers.
When contacted, Mahendra Prasad Behera, tehsildar said that he will soon visit Bageipur and conduct a probe on theft of minor minerals.
PNN