Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed Tuesday a penalty of Rs 12 crore on Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA). The NGT has slapped the fine over illegal stone mining at Nijigad Tapang in Khurda district. It should be stated here that the land on which the mining has been carried out belongs to Lord Jagannath.
Sources said that the SJTA has carried out 59 stone mining quarries on the said land. The activities have harshly affected the environment, the NGT said. It added that the estimated cost of renovation, reclamation, and restitution of the excavated areas at the quarries is Rs 12 crore. The NGT has asked the SJTA to deposit the penalty amount within four months at the Khurda district collector’s office.
The NGT has also instructed the Khurda District Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy to form a committee which will supervise the renovation, reclamation and restitution of the excavated areas with the amount collected from penalty.