Jajpur: The district administration was caught on wrong foot after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed it to conduct a fresh probe into the alleged illegal sand mining at a sand quarry in Kharasrota riverbank near Masudpur here, a report said.
The NGT expressed sharp resentment on the probe report submitted by the district administration as it has been conducted during rainy season. The tribunal instead asked the district administration to conduct a fresh probe in dry season and submit an actual report.
The order came following a petition (48/2020/EZ) filed before the tribunal by Pinak Ranjan Das of Masudpur village near the Kharasrota riverbank.
A bench of the tribunal comprising Justice SP Wangdi and expert member Dr Nagin Nanda heard the matter and passed the order October 5, Shankar Prasad Pani, advocate for the petitioner said.
Observers claimed that the NGT order has sparked fear among the government officials who had submitted a fake report before the tribunal to divert its attention away from the issue.
The tribunal in its order said that the probe was conducted during rainy season when sand extraction remains stopped. This apart, the authorities instead of taking action against the quarry owner for illegal sand mining left him only by collecting fine. Therefore, the NGT directed to conduct a fresh probe in dry season and take action against the owner of the illegal sand quarry. The next date of hearing is slated for December 24.
Reports said that the tribunal had first passed an order for a probe into the charges of illegal sand mining at Masudpur sand ghat, July 19, this year.
Accordingly, a three-member team of the district administration comprising Pramod Kumar Behera, regional officer of state pollution control board (SPCB) in Kalinganagar, BK Sahu, assistant mines officer, Jajpur Road and Narayan Chandra Dhal, Jajpur sub-collector conducted a probe and submitted its report before the NGT.
The report mentioned that there is no place called Masudpur sand ghat and no equipment are being used for sand extraction in the alleged sand quarry. The concerned revenue officials are keeping a close watch and no equipment is being used for sand extraction, the report said.
The local residents have also denied presence of any illegal sand quarry in the area. Moreover, allegations like damage of the river embankment and bridge, soil erosion, revenue loss, environmental pollution were not found during the probe.
The report also stated that the local tehsildar raided an illegal sand quarry in the area twice May 25 and June 9 and collected penalties from the quarry owner Lakshmidhar Mohanty.
When contacted, SPCB regional officer Behera said that subsequent action will be taken as per the NGT order.
PNN