Kalinganagar: Even as the state government has imposed lockdown and weekend shutdowns in the state to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, murram smuggling goes on unabated under Danagadi tehsil in Jajpur district.
It is alleged that hundreds of tons of murram have been excavated from a Sal forest under Trijanga panchayat of the tehsil using machines and smuggled out in tippers and dumpers during the period by greasing the palms of some unscrupulous tehsil officials.
This has been going on when people have been asked to stay home during the lockdown and weekend shutdowns to check the spread of Covid-19. Surprisingly, murram smuggling is taking place despite the tehsil office being located just around 500 metres from the mining site.
Recently, heavy vehicles like dumpers and Hyva were seen smuggling minor minerals from the jungle. The illegality was caught again when five Hyva vehicles transporting the minerals to a land site for leveling work got stuck in rain induced mud at Mangalpur village under the tehsil, May 14.
After the reports surfaced, the smuggling of the minor minerals has sparked resentment and anger among the residents. They alleged that some tehsil officials who been here since last seven to eight years were responsible for the mineral smuggling.
During verification, it was found that the Hyva vehicles engaged in murram smuggling had a sticker of a consultancy agency engaged in national highway construction work. This has been done to avoid getting caught by the law enforcement agencies and locals.
Later, the vehicles were found unloading the smuggled minerals at a site by a influential middlemen of the area. In the latest incident, tractors and Hyva vehicles were seen transporting murrams from the forest land Sunday.
According to a rough estimate, the dispatch might be over 200 trips of murrams transported to various locations, Sunday. Phone calls to tehsildar Namrata Modi for her comments on the issue went unanswered.
PNN