Jajpur: The National Green Tribunal has issued a stay order on its earlier order of Rs 25 crore penalty on illegal black stone extraction from Dankari Hill under Dharmasala tehsil in this district.
The tribunal passed the stay order after conducting a hearing in case no-604/2018 Thursday. The tribunal issued the stay order as the Supreme Court has passed a stay order on a civil appeal -10113/2018 filed against its order of Rs 25 crore penalty and is yet to deliver a final order.
A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel, SP Wangdi, K Ramakrishnan and Nagin Nanda while delivering the order said that its earlier order of Rs 25 crore penalty will not be implemented till the apex court delivers an order.
The bench had passed the order of Rs 25 crore penalty on the state government as it was not aware of the stay order on their order issued by the apex court.
The stay order by the tribunal has evoked mixed reactions in the district. As many as 11 tehsildars, 10 revenue inspectors, six sub-collectors of Jajpur as well as the stone smugglers who are allegedly involved in the irregularities have heaved a sigh of relief after the tribunal passed the stay order.
When contacted, petitioner Sarbeshwar Behura who was instrumental in getting a Rs 25 crore penalty from the NGT said a stone trader Sribas Jena has managed to get a sty order from the apex court August 31. The NGT order will be implemented after the Supreme Court vacates its stay order.
Earlier, some senior district officials were found camping in Delhi and holding legal consultations to vacate the NGT order.
Black stones worth several crores have been extracted from the Dankari hill without necessary environmental clearance since 2002.
The NGT holding the state government responsible for this slapped a penalty of Rs 25 crore. A division bench comprising Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel, SP Wangdi, Ramakrishnan and Nagin Nanda heard the petition-606/2018 and passed the order January 4, 2019.
The NGT order has held the state government officials responsible for encouraging illegal mining in the hill.
“The state cannot avoid its responsibility for the damage caused to the environment. We hold the state to be liable to deposit an interim compensation of Rs 25 crore which may be deposited with the CPCB in one month,” the NGT had said in its order.
Out of the 16 quarries in Dankari mines owners of quarries – 2, 3,4,5,6 and 11 continued with illegal mining without taking the approval of the state pollution control board.
Dharmasala tehsildar Saroj Kumar Panda said efforts are not being made to shield any corrupt officials and we have tried to put forth our case in the NGT.
PNN