New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Khurda Collector to file an affidavit with details of the illegal miners carrying out laterite stone mining in the district and the amount of environmental compensation imposed and recovered from them. It wanted to know at whose behest the illegal mining was being carried out.
A bench of Judicial Member B Amit Sthalekar and Expert Member Saibal Dasgupta also asked the Collector to bring on record the comprehensive action plan for restitution and restoration of the environment in the area.
The green body rejected the affidavit filed by State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) citing that “the affidavit is not legible and at least two pages are completely blank and the remaining pages are smudged and therefore not legible”. The tribunal asked the SEIAA to file a fresh affidavit.
“We direct the Collector, Khurda to file his personal affidavit giving details of the illegal miners, determining as to at whose behest the alleged illegal miners, alleged truck operators were operating in the lifting of the laterite stone and the amount of the environmental compensation imposed and recovered as well as the cost of the laterite stone illegally mined causing loss to the state exchequer,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal noted that the illegal miners have not been allowed to operate by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri. “What this affidavit does not state is as to at whose behest the truck operators carrying the crushed laterite stone material etc were operating,” the bench said.
Earlier, the NGT had constituted a four-member committee comprising a senior scientist from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Khurda DM, SEIAA member secretary and a member of SPCB to investigate the allegations related to illegal mining of laterite stone in the district and how much damage was cause to the environment.
It is to be mentioned here that an application has been filed in the tribunal alleging illegal mining of laterite stone by rat hole mining method without following the standard operating procedure (SOP) for mining and other environmental laws. It is stated that there are at least 40 different sites in Khurda district of Odisha where such mining is going on that covers 500 acres bringing within it several villages namely Tapanga, Anda and Jhinkijhari under Nijigarh Tapang Panchayat. The areas said to involve Cashew Jungle, Gramya Jungle and Gochar land. No environmental clearance or consent to operate was stated to have been obtained. A large number of trees have been felled during the mining operations.
