CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday warned the Dhenkanal collector of imposing penalty for failure to comply with its orders if he fails to file an affidavit along with a survey report on mining activities at Nihalprasad road metal stone quarry within four weeks.
A survey by Orissa Space Applications Centre (ORSAC) with satellite data is necessary to assess the quantity mined at the quarry for calculating illegal excess mining.
NGT’s east zone bench in Kolkata issued the direction after the collector & district magistrate filed an interlocutory application seeking four months for filing the affidavit.
A letter received from ORSAC on April 22 was submitted, which stated that satellite data on the quarry would be available only after the model code of conduct is over. Accordingly, permission from the Election Commission is required for conducting the ORSAC survey with regard to allegations of illegal mining at the quarry.
Taking serious note of it, the bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) said: “We fail to understand as to why sanction of the Election Commission is required for a survey into an investigation of an alleged criminal activity.”
“The notices in this case were issued on October 22, 2023 and at that time there was no model code of conduct and there were no elections. We fail to understand as to why ORSAC cannot conduct the survey without the sanction of the Election Commission and provide report to the collector & district magistrate, Dhenkanal,” the bench observed.
“We, therefore, direct the collector & district magistrate, Dhenkanal, to ensure that the affidavit along with ORSAC report is filed within four weeks failing which the provisions of Section 26 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 would be invoked by the tribunal,” the bench said in its order, while posting the matter to May 30.
The tribunal was hearing a petition seeking intervention against alleged excess mining beyond the prescribed limit and violation of environmental clearance (EC) conditions at the quarry in Gondia tehsil. Santanu Kumar Bhukta, a local resident, had filed the petition. Advocate Sankar Prasad Pani represented the petitioner.
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