Cuttack: National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) east zone bench has constituted a joint committee to verify allegations of excessive and unauthorised laterite stone mining at Olasingh Laterite Stone Quarry-B in Khurda district.The tribunal passed the order on a petition filed by Sarbeswar Bhol of Khurda, who alleged that mining at the quarry was being carried out beyond the permitted quantity, depth and lease area and in violation of environmental safeguards.The bench of Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, judicial member, and expert members A Senthil Vel and Ishwar Singh observed that the allegations “prima facie” raised substantial environmental questions arising from implementation of laws listed under National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.“In view of the allegations made in the petition, we also consider it appropriate that a joint committee be constituted to verify the factual position and suggest appropriate remedial action,” the bench further observed, after hearing advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy appearing on behalf of the petitioner and going through the material on record.The committee will comprise representatives of the MoEF&CC’s integrated regional office, Bhubaneswar, OSPCB and Khurda district administration. It has been directed to associate the petitioner and project lessee during verification.While the committee report has been sought within a month, the Khurda district magistrate will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The matter has been posted for further consideration on Oct 26.The tribunal also issued notices to the state forest, environment and climate change department, Khurda collector, director of geology, deputy director of mines, DFO, Tangi tehsildar, Odisha Space Applications Centre (ORSAC) and the private lessee, while directing them to file replies within a month.The petitioner has sought restoration of the excavated area, environmental compensation, fixing accountability of officials and a satellite-based audit by ORSAC to quantify extraction inside and outside the lease area.Bhol alleged that the lessee had exceeded the approved quantity and depth and had also carried out excavation beyond the lease boundary. Other alleged violations included transportation through village roads, breach of safety-zone requirements, failure to develop a green belt, non-implementation of the progressive mine closure plan and failure to submit quarterly compliance reports.According to the petitioner, environmental clearance granted to the tehsildar, Tangi on June 30, 2021, was transferred to the private lessee on May 2, 2023, permitting extraction of 2,000 cubic metres of laterite stone annually from 5 hectares (12.35 acres).lalmohanpatnaik2019@gmail.com
