NGT orders probe into illegal sand mining at Gunadei Brahmani river quarry
The order came in response to a petition filed by Talcher-based Youth United for Sustainable Environment Trust. The petition alleged large-scale violations of the Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016, at the quarry, which spans 11.80 acre in Gunadei village under Odapada tehsil.
The Trust claimed that the project was continuing operations illegally, without the necessary Environmental Clearance (EC) transfer and in violation of conditions attached to the original EC granted in favour of the tehsildar on March 30, 2021.
The bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar and Dr Arun Kumar Verma, issued notices to the state government, SEIAA, State Pollution Control Board, MoEF&CC, and the lessee. The five-member fact-finding committee has been tasked to investigate the site and submit a report within three weeks. In the order, the bench noted the EC was liable to be revoked after May 2022 if a satisfactory Annual Rate of Replenishment Study was not submitted, a condition that remains unmet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
20 minutes ago
- Indian Express
25 CCTV cameras, patrolling men with walkie-talkies to evade arrest: Luck runs out for Surat ‘drug lord'
As many as 25 CCTV cameras in a 500-meter radius, three patrolling men with walkie-talkies on the narrow roads leading to his house and a special room on the ground floor of his three-storey house to see the CCTV feeds. These, according to police, were the measures taken by a Surat-based drug lord to evade police arrest. Shiva alias Shivraj Zala (28) has given police a slip whenever his house was raided by police. His luck, however, ran out on Tuesday night when police arrested Zala from his house, the only tall property surrounded by single-floor pucca houses in the Bhatena area of Surat city. Police also seized Rs 16 lakh, 120 grams of mephedrone (a synthetic drug) and two pistols from his house. After several failed attempts to arrest Zala, police sources said they devised a different strategy to arrest him. First, cops talked to local youths of the Bhatena area and learnt about the security cover placed by Zala. The police team did a recce of the area and found the CCTV cameras in 25 locations. On Tuesday, the Surat Special Operation Group (SOG) got information that Zala was present in his house. Acting on a plan, 25 policemen in plain clothes travelled on 15 bikes to the narrow roads near his house close to the overbridge built on Koili Creek. All six routes leading to Zala's house were screened by police. SOG police inspector A P Chaudhary said, 'We have earlier identified the escape routes of Zala and a group of police personnel were deployed on all six escape routes, including the way to Koli Creek and its bridge so that he could not give us a slip this time.' 'We parked our bikes at different locations around a 100-metre radius of his house. A group of policemen, led by me, reached the narrow lane leading to his house. The main door of his house was open and a police team barged in and overpowered Zala,' Chaudhary said, adding that he was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Arms Act. According to police, Zala was involved in various crimes including murder, attempt-to-murder, robbery and drugs trade. A total of 16 cases had been registered against him. 'Shiva had been known as a messiah in the Bhatena area, where low-income group families reside. He used to help the residents financially for marriage, medical treatment and other needs. The Bhatena area is dominated by people from the minority community. He has good clout among the locals and nobody dared to raise their voice against him,' Chaudhary said. Police sources said that Zala is the youngest son of a tempo driver, Bhupendrasinh Zala, hailing from Dhandhuka taluka in Ahmedabad district. Police said that long ago, his father migrated from Dhandhuka to Surat and settled in the Bhatena area. He has three other sons. Chaudhary added, 'Zala used to buy drugs from a person in Mumbai. Drug peddlers used to come to his place and buy drugs directly. He was selling drugs only to known peddlers and also kept watch of their movements. We are trying to dig out more information from him and identify the peddlers involved with him.'
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Trump administration sanctions Mexican rapper over allegations of cartel ties
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it was sanctioning Mexican musician Ricardo Hernndez, known as 'El Makabelico,' over allegations that the artist was laundering money for a drug move comes after the administration stripped the visas of some of Mexico's most famous musicians, targeting those whose genres often explore themes related to US Treasury Department has taken action against the musician who is also identified as a "narco-rapper," for his alleged ties to the Cartel del Noreste (CDN), which evolved from the Zetas Cartel. The musician, named Hernndez, is accused of laundering money for the criminal organisation through his concerts and events. The CDN is among several Latin American crime groups designated as foreign terrorist organisations by the Trump According to the Treasury Department's allegations, Hernndez has been sanctioned because he is believed to be acting for or on behalf of the CDN. The department claims that half of his streaming royalties are funnelled directly to the cartel. The sanctions also extend to leaders of the has however, not been an official response from the rapper about the sanctions imposed on FROM THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT'CDN depends on these alternative revenue streams and money laundering methods to boost their criminal enterprise, diversifying their income beyond criminal activity like drug trafficking, human smuggling, and extortion," wrote the Treasury Department in a news release."The Treasury Department will continue to be relentless in its effort to put America First by targeting terrorist drug cartels. These cartels poison Americans with fentanyl and conduct human smuggling operations along our southwest border," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott US Treasury Department also took it to their social media handle on X to announce the sanctions on the rapper along with three high-ranking members of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three high-ranking members of the Mexico-based terrorist organization Cartel del Noreste (CDN), along with narco-rapper El narco-rapper's concerts and events are used to launder money on behalf of CDN,— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) August 6, 2025THE SANCTIONThe sanctions imposed will result in blocking the rapper's properties in US and freeze financial transactions with any businesses owned by those sanctioned, and threaten secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that do business with recent years, emerging artists like Peso Pluma have propelled Mexican music genres onto the global stage by blending traditional sounds with trap and other contemporary influences, rivalling international stars such as Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny on streaming genres — particularly 'narco-corridos' — have sparked much controversy, as many performers reference drug cartels and the broader 'narco culture.' While some tracks glorify criminal figures, others reflect the difficult realities faced by youth in cartel-dominated regions, drawing parallels to themes often explored in American style of music has been at the heart of ongoing debates over the boundaries between free artistic expression and censorship, with several Mexican states previously prohibiting live performances of certain ADMINISTRATION'S PREVIOUS STEPSadvertisementIn recent months, the Trump administration has taken action by revoking visas for several artists associated with the genre. In May, the well-known northern Mexican group Grupo Firme, which has worked to move away from cartel-related content, announced the cancellation of a planned California concert due to visa April, the administration said it was revoking the visas of the band Alegres de Barranco after they flashed the face of a cartel boss behind them at a concert, prompting a controversy and even criminal investigations in Mexico.- EndsWith inputs from agencies
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
SC refuses to grant relief to IAS officer in graft case
Cuttack: The Supreme Court refused to grant relief to senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi in a corruption case, dismissing his plea challenging an order by Orissa high court that had denied him anticipatory bail. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih in its order on Aug 4 said it was 'not inclined to interfere' with the high court's July 28 ruling. However, the court allowed Sethi the liberty to surrender and apply for regular bail, saying it would be considered 'on its own merits'. The case stems from the arrest of a group general manager of a public sector unit on Dec 8, 2024, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a Bhubaneswar-based real estate firm. During interrogation of the manager, Sethi's name reportedly emerged, following which CBI raided the senior bureaucrat's residence on Feb 18 this year. Sethi had earlier approached the high court for anticipatory bail after his petition seeking to quash the CBI probe was dismissed on June 20. The high court termed his plea 'premature' as the investigation was still at an early stage.
