Jajpur: The Forest Department has expressed its helplessness regarding the illegal black stone quarrying on forest land inside Balarampur reserve forest in Jajpur district.
Over 200 stone quarries are operating in the reserve forest areas. The loot of minor minerals has caused environment pollution and damaged greenery. The government also loses lakhs of rupees due to unauthorized stone mining in Balarampur area.
The networking of black stone smugglers in the area is so strong that it is impossible for the department to stop illegal activity. Cuttack Divisional Forest Officer SMT Rehman, through a memorandum (letter no: 5146/4AF Offence/2019), has requested the Jajpur collector to stop the illegal black stone mining in the area and cancel the NOC of the concerned crusher owners. He further requested the collector to instruct the police department to regularly conduct joint raids on the illegal stone crushers in the forest.
The memorandum further said, as per Forest Act-1927, 347.1 hectare was identified by the Revenue Department as Balarampur Reserve Forest. But from 2000 to 2019, huge quantities of black stones were quarried, said forest officials. A case was registered against the illegal quarrying of stones in the High Court in 2000.
As per the instruction of the High Court, the Forest Department had seized black stone laden trucks from the forest during the seizure operation. Many cases have been registered for illegal stone quarrying. Though efforts have been made to check the illegal stone smugglers, their outcome is zero.
According to the department, more than a hundred stone crushers have been operating in the area illegally.
Though 15 days have passed since the submission of the memorandum, no steps have taken by the district administration.
Sources said, the areas under this reserve forest are adversely affected due to dynamite explosions at the quarries. Though the Forest Department has declared the hilly area of the jungle as no entry zone, the stone crushers operate freely.
Locals demanded the district administration to take proper steps to stop the illegal mining and smuggling of minor mineral wealth.
It is believed that after receiving complaints from various quarters and to free itself from the responsibility of forest security, Cuttack Divisional Forest Department is trying to shift the responsibility to the Jajpur district administration.
PNN