Panel to probe illegal sand mining from Brahmani

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Cuttack: Expressing concern over alleged illegal sand mining from Brahmani riverbed near Maryadapur, Jenapur and Brundadeipur under Dharmasala tehsil of Jajpur, the principal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed an oversight committee, led by Jharkhand High Court retired judge RK Merathia, to initiate a probe into the issue within a week.
The oversight committee would submit the probe report with the environment watchdog following which the future course of action would be decided, the NGT bench ruled. The directive came in response to a petition filed by Ranjit Kumar Dora, a Dharmasala resident, alleging that a few lease holders of the three sand ghats have been engaging heavy machinery instead of manual labourers thus leading to excessive mining of sand. “Besides, they (miners) also carry out the sand mining without approved mining plan and in brazen violation of environment norms,” the petitioner said.