BHUBANESWAR: The lush green hills of Khurda are slowly getting stripped of their virtues owing to rampant illegal stone quarries operating right under the nose of the district administration.
Of late, the pace of illegal quarrying has gained momentum leading to the denudation of several hills covered with green vegetation, thereby posing a grave threat to the environment.
The hills are fast losing their existence owing to the construction and expansion of highways. Barring a few quarries, several others are operating without environmental clearance and consent to operate.
This comes around a year after the National Green Tribunal (NGT), while hearing the case of illegal stone quarry in villages like Jhinkijhari, Tapang and Anda under Nijigarh Tapang gram panchayat, had lambasted the district administration for illegal stone quarries and its gross negligence in complying with the NGT order.
A joint committee comprising members from Forest and Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board among others, had brought the illegalities to NGT’s notice. The committee said that the quarries were operating in violation of mining laws and standard operating procedure, posing threat to the local community and the environment as well. The panel had also pegged the cost of environmental damage at around Rs 1.80 crore.
As per the Khurda District Survey Report of 2021, there are around 110 potential laterite reserves in the district. The report says the district has one specified minor mineral lease for decorative stone at Tutumberpalli village which was given for 20 years but was stopped due to lack of consent to operate. There are two prospective licences – one at Narangarh in favour of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration and another at Santasinghpur.
However, a ground visit by this correspondent revealed that machines have been installed in several areas of the district to break the hills and grind the laterite and morum to make them fit for industry use.
The locals are fumed with the large-scale damage to the hills and increased level of air pollution owing to the movement of trucks. The report also revealed about rising tuberculosis cases in the areas. The number of patients has jumped from 1,025 in 2015-16 to 1,530 in 2018-19 and is heading northward.
Experts claimed that many contractors engaged in road expansion seldom care about existing laws for the excavation of minor mineral (like laterite & morum).
“Earlier, a case of the illegal stone quarry was filed before the NGT and massive irregularities were revealed through ground inspections by the NGT appointed panel. It was only about a small region in the district but now it seems that illegal stone quarry is rampant in the district and everything is going on under the nose of the district administration,” NGT lawyer Sankar Prasad Pani told Orissa POST.
Manish Kumar, OP