NGT seeks report on recovery of Rs 25L from lessee for illegal sand mining
National Green Tribunal
(NGT) has directed the collector and district magistrate of Sundargarh to file an action taken report (ATR) regarding the recovery of Rs 25.41 lakh environmental compensation from a lessee for illegal extraction of sand from the Brahmani riverbed.
NGT's east zone bench in Kolkata, comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member), gave the direction on July 8 while hearing a plea filed by late Jhadeswar Pradhan alleging illegal extraction of sand in the form of excess mining. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy represented the petitioner.
The order came following submission of an affidavit by district collector and magistrate Manoj Satyawan Mahajan along with the inspection report of a joint committee constituted by NGT earlier this year.
The report confirmed illegal extraction of sand in form of excess mining near Tendra village under Bonai tehsil.
According to the report, the lessee had extracted 20,616 cubic metres of sand in 2024-25, out of which 5,339.78 cubic metres was mined from outside the approved lease area, violating both environmental and mining norms.
The report of the joint committee submitted by the collector confirmed these findings and stated the lessee had disturbed the natural flow of the Brahmani.
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Environmental compensation of Rs 25.41 lakh was calculated by the committee based on the extent of the violation.
The committee comprised officials from Odisha State Pollution Control Board (Rourkela), State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, deputy director of mines (Rourkela), and the tehsildar of Bonai. It had conducted a field inspection on May 5.
The bench directed the collector to submit the ATR on the recovery of compensation by the next date of hearing on Aug 22.
The tribunal also took note of the petitioner's death and ordered that his widow, Chhabibala Pradhan, be substituted in his place.
The petition had alleged that the private lessee was carrying out excess extraction of sand through mechanical mining and transporting them in overloaded heavy vehicles day and night through village roads and private agricultural plots, causing damage and disturbance to the local ecosystem.
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