Khurda: Stone mafias of Khurda district are taking advantage of the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The police are now busy imposing lockdown guidelines. The stone mafias have taken advantage of this opportunity. They have become very active in Haldipada village.
The miscreants, on a daily basis, are illegally extracting huge quantities of stone from government land. It is then being smuggled out of the district. Locals alleged that they have good understanding with some officials of the district administration. It allows them to carry on their nefarious activities in a seamless manner.
Recently the activities of the stone mafia were brought to light by a journalist. In spite of being threatened at gunpoint, he went ahead and published a story of the stone mafias with pictures. It went viral on various social media platforms.
Residents of Haldipada village alleged that in spite of repeated complaints to the tehsil and forest officials, no action has been taken. They added that the mafias get to know about upcoming raids and always manage to escape.
Villagers also claimed that the illegal mining is severely affecting the ecology. Green cover has been disappearing while big craters are springing out of nowhere. It is having an effect on humans as well as wildlife. The illegal ferrying of huge loads of stone in heavy vehicles is also damaging the road conditions, they said.
Khurda Tehsil Town Police Station IIC Umasankar Singh said they are yet to receive any formal complaint from the villagers. “We can take punitive action on the stone smugglers after receiving a formal complaint from villagers.Till now we have not received any complaint regarding this,” Singh informed.
PNN