Jajpur: A recent joint raid on the illegal black stone quarries in Dharmasala tehsil of Jajpur district has evoked mixed reactions.
The personnel of Minor Minerals, police and Forest departments jointly raided the illegal black stone quarries, Saturday. The raids unravelled rampant loot of costly black stone from Quarry No 2/3 on the Dankari foothills and from many quarries in Barada and Malagoda mouzas under the tehsil.
Buoyed by this disclosure, the Minor Minerals department was learnt to be preparing to take action against the illegal and unscrupulous traders.
The Minor Minerals department has even warned to close down the illegal black stone quarries in operation if the leaseholders do not appoint a mine manager by October 31 as per the order of the Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS). Meanwhile, the Minor Minerals department has sought the help of district police to take necessary action.
While officials are happy about the raids taking place in the illegal black stone quarries, residents are sceptical on the outcome of the raid. The former, however, hopes that the raids will rattle the illegal miners and be able to curb illegal mining. It is suspected that the illegal miners might have looted black stones to the tune of `5 crore during last two months. However, the residents affected by air and water pollution due to illegal mining have little hope on these raids. They alleged that the raids are just eyewash and the wrongdoing will start again just a few days after the raids.
This is because the police personnel and tehsil officials who are from the Revenue department are allegedly hand in gloves with the illegal miners. The police and tehsil officials allegedly receive monthly cuts from these miners and stay mum on the rampant loot and smuggling of black stone and other minerals. This results in loss of precious revenue for the state government while the illegal miners get richer by plundering the hills and destroying the local environment. Locals alleged that the district administration has assured them that illegal mining will be stopped several times but has failed to curb it due to a lack of proper coordination between the Minor Minerals, Forest and police departments.
The Dharmasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahu has been writing in regular intervals to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and the mining officials requesting to step up patrolling in the black stone quarries and take steps as per law. The Minor Minerals department had urged the Jenapur police to initiate criminal proceedings against the illegal black stone smugglers. However, the Jenapur police urged the Minor Minerals department to identify the illegal black stone quarries and submit a list. In this tug of war, people and observers are anxious to know when the satellite mapping will be done to identify illegal quarries, and when they will be served with penalty notice.
When contacted, Deputy Director Jayprakash Nayak of Minor Minerals department in Jajpur said there is dire need of police assistance to curb the loot of black stones from the quarries for which he has held discussions with the Jajpur Superintendent of Police. The problem will be resolved after the appointment of a mines manager in the quarries. However, the quarries will be shut if the miners do not appoint managers by October 31.
PNN