NGT seeks probe into illegal stone quarry of Dhenkanal Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has now ordered inspection of working of a stone quarry unit near Jhilli village in Dhenkanal district which was accused of operating in violation of several environmental laws.
This comes after a petition was filed before the NGT by the villagers who accused the unit of mining in excess of the permissible limits, felling of trees, illegal blasting and causing damages to nearby houses with their industrial works.
A three-bench of the NGT headed by Justice Adarsh Goel in the latest written order has directed formation of a joint inspection panel and ordered them to file a field report within a time frame.
The National Green Tribunal has formed a committee to look into a plea alleging illegal mining and stone crushing in Odisha. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel constituted a committee comprising officials from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), District Collector, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Central Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The joint Committee may ascertain facts and also consider the view point of the affected parties. Based on facts found, the concerned statutory authority may take appropriate action, following due process of law. The nodal agency will be the State PCB for coordination and compliance. A factual and action taken report may be furnished within three months by e-mail, said the bench, also comprising Justice S K Singh and expert member Nagin Nanda.
Eight-member panel to check whether mining is in compliance with laws
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has decided to appoint an eight-member committee to check whether riverbed sand-mining in Kerala is being done in compliance with the sand-mining policy of the Union government and various environmental laws.
The Southern Bench of the tribunal recommended the formation of the committee after taking suo motu notice of media reports quoting a study that recommended that nearly 30.3 lakh cubic metres out of the 81.45 lakh cubic metres accumulated sand in the Bharathapuzha river can be mined.
Lacking clarity The Bench comprising Justice K. Ramakrishnan and expert member Saibal Dasgupta said that the court lacked clarity on the procedure adopted by the District Collectors while granting permission for mining the excess sand. It is also not known as to whether the district survey reports are prepared in a scientific manner as per the guidelines, it said.