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Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
NGT hauls up authorities for fly ash dumping on forest land
1 2 3 Cuttack: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday pulled up Odisha authorities over large-scale dumping of fly ash on forest land in Dhenkanal district and directed the Odisha State Pollution Control Board to identify the violator and initiate action, including recovery of environmental compensation. A Talcher-based NGO had filed a petition alleging that more than five acres of forest and govt land under Parjang tehsil had been encroached and fly ash illegally dumped. The petitioner was represented by advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy. The NGT's east zone bench in Kolkata had on Feb 25 constituted a committee led by the collector (Dhenkanal) to investigate the matter. Following an inspection on April 17, 2025, submitted a report on May 7, confirming the allegations, stating that there was large-scale dumping of fly ash over forest land, estimated at 40,687 MT, spread over 16,275 square metres (approximately 4 acres). In the July 22 order, the bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) observed that while the inspection confirmed the dumping, the committee was silent on the source of the fly ash. The bench criticised local authorities, including the tehsildar, divisional forest officer and the Odisha State Pollution Control Board, for failing to detect the dumping, calling it a case of "dereliction of duty. " The NGT has directed the Odisha State Pollution Control Board to thoroughly investigate the source and violator, and initiate environmental compensation proceedings after giving the violator due notice and hearing. "Proceedings for recovery of environmental compensation shall be initiated against the violator," the order stated, while seeking a compliance report by Dec 31, 2025. On the issue of encroachment on govt revenue land, the bench clarified it did not fall within its jurisdiction unless an environmental aspect was involved. It took note of eviction proceedings already initiated against a private party encroaching upon Gramya Jungle land and asked the state authorities to complete the process and restore the land through tree plantation. For the part of Khalpal reserve forest found without forest growth, the bench directed that native tree plantation be carried out and the area secured with fencing or proper markings by Oct 31, 2025.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
NGT orders probe into ‘illegal' sand mining in Dhenkanal
1 2 Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered an investigation into alleged illegal sand mining at a quarry in the Brahmani river in Dhenkanal district. The directive came during a hearing on Friday on a petition filed by a Talcher-based NGO which alleged that sand was being mined illegally over 11.80 acres from the river at Gunadei village under Odapada tehsil, flouting several environmental norms and guidelines. The petitioner's counsels, Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy (appearing virtually), claimed the project was operating in violation of the Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016, issued by the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change. Taking note of the charges, NGT's east zone bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) constituted a five-member fact-finding committee comprising officials from the Dhenkanal administration, Odisha State Pollution Control Board, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), and the mines department. The Dhenkanal district magistrate will act as the nodal officer for coordination. The committee has been directed to conduct a site inspection and file a report on affidavit within three weeks. The matter has been listed for next hearing on Aug 19. NGT in its order noted that the original environmental clearance (EC) granted on March 30, 2021, to the Odapada tehsildar, was conditional upon submission of an annual rate of replenishment study (ARSS) by May 2022 — a requirement that was not fulfilled. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dolly Parton, 79, Removes Her Makeup and Stuns Everyone The Noodle Box Undo On July 12, 2023, the EC was transferred to a private lessee. However, SEIAA flagged it as a "violation case", acknowledging that the quarry had operated without proper transfer of clearance. The petition alleged that although the lessee was permitted to extract only 8,618 cubic metres of sand in the third year, mining exceeded permissible limits within just four days, with over 100 trucks operating daily, suggesting extraction of nearly 2,000 cubic metres per day. Other allegations include mechanical mining in violation of manual mining conditions, lack of demarcation at the site, unapproved district survey report and failure to display statutory clearances. Use of heavy vehicles was also said to be impacting the river's flow and local infrastructure.
