NGT forms panel to probe 'illegal' sand mining in Sundargarh

Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a three-member committee to inspect alleged illegal extraction of sand from the Brahmani river at Tendra in Sundargarh district and submit a report.

The committee includes senior scientists from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), and the district collector or his representative.

Jhadeswar Pradhan (60), a resident of Tendra village, had alleged that the private lessee was carrying out excess extraction of sand through mechanical mining and transporting them in heavy vehicles day and night through the villages over private plots and agricultural lands. Around 4,000 cubic metres of sand was being extracted daily when the permission was only for 30,000 cubic metres for the entire year, the petition alleged.

Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy made submissions on Pradhan's behalf in virtual mode.

NGT's east zone bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Afroz Ahmad (expert member) on April 4 said, "Considering the allegations made we deem it appropriate to constitute a committee which shall visit the site in question and submit its report with regard to the allegations made in the petition."

"The collector & district magistrate, Sundargarh shall be the nodal office for all logistic purposes and for filing the inspection report on affidavit.," the bench directed while posting the matter on July 8.

The bench also issued notices to the chief secretary, executive engineer, rural works division (Rourkela), tehsildar (Bonai), regional transport officer (Rourkela), member secretary of OSPCB, member secretary SEIAA, deputy director of mines (Koira circle), and the Rourkela SP. Additional govt advocate Satyabrata Mohanty accepted the notices on behalf of the state authorities.

The bench also issued notice to the deputy director general of forests, integrated regional office (Bhubaneswar) of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, and the private lessee. "All the respondents shall file their counter-affidavits within four weeks," the bench added.