Jajpur/Dharmasala/Chadheidhara: A labourer was crushed to death under a huge pile of stones at Quarry No-4 on Rahadpur hill under Dharmasala tehsil in Jajpur district, Saturday. The deceased was identified as Aju Singh, 30, from Kuliana area of Mayurbhanj district.
The labourer was buried under the huge heap of stones which caved in due to blasting near the quarry owned by the leaseholder Sandip Chandak. The compressor machine and pipes were also crushed under the stones along with the labourer.
The incident allegedly occurred as the leaseholder was illegally extracting stones from the nearby quarry as the tehsil officials are yet to make a demarcation of the leased quarries.
On being informed, Jenapur police IIC Subhendu Kumar Sahu and Deputy Director, Minor Minerals department Jayprakash Nayak reached the spot and launched an investigation. Notably, newly elected MLA of Dharmasala Himanshu Sekhar Sahu had written to the Dharmasala tehsildar to complete the demarcation of the leased quarries, June 8, 2024. Three months have passed since then, but the tehsil officials are yet to take any step on the issue.
Taking advantage of the laxity of the administration, the leaseholders are illegally extracting stones exceeding the permissible limits and also beyond the leased area on the fringes of their quarries. They are making a fast buck from such illegal extraction of black stones and the state government is losing revenue worth crores.
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This is not the first instance of accidental loss of life in and around such quarries. Earlier, several labourers have died in many of the illegal quarries. Three labourers were crushed to death under a huge stone and soil that came rolling down the Dankari hill under Dharmasala tehsil, May 16. However, authorities are yet to take any action against the accused quarry owner even after registration of a case in Jenapur police station.
Earlier, in a case filed before Orissa High Court, it was alleged that the tehsil officials are yet to lease out more than 60 quarries under the Dharmasala tehsil. As a result, fearing satellite mapping and penalty, some leaseholders are not extracting stones from their own quarries but illegally extracting stones from the non-leased quarries on the fringes of their quarries and making a windfall gain.
Several crusher units have come up in the illegal black stone quarries but the district administration and tehsil officials are staying mum despite being aware of the wrongdoings.
PNN