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New Indian Express
04-08-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
NGT seeks report from govt on legacy waste lying dumped for years in Bargarh
CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the state Housing and Urban Development department to submit an action taken report (ATR) within four weeks regarding compliance with its earlier orders for the removal of legacy waste in Bargarh town. The legacy waste has been lying untreated in Bargarh for over a decade, posing serious environmental and health risks to nearby residents. Ramakanta Rout and six other residents of Purushotam Nagar in Ward No 15 under the Bargarh municipality had filed the petition seeking criminal proceedings against the authorities for failing to act on NGT's directives issued on March 23, 2023. The Tribunal had ordered the complete treatment of the legacy waste through biomining, micro-composting centres or material recovery facilities by December 31, 2023. The NGT also directed the Odisha government to deposit Rs 1.84 crore in an ESCROW account for remediation efforts by the Bargarh Municipality. The bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (Expert Member) reviewed an inspection report submitted by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) along with its affidavit and the Bargarh municipality's reply to a notice. It was revealed that while a detailed project report (DPR) had been prepared and submitted to the government, it was returned for revisions. The revised DPR has now been forwarded to the engineer-in-chief of Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB), Bhubaneswar for further processing. 'We, therefore, direct the Housing and Urban Development department to file its affidavit within four weeks to show what action has been taken,' the bench stated. It also noted that Rs 1.90 crore had already been released by the state government to the Bargarh municipality, which must now submit an affidavit detailing how the funds are being used in line with Tribunal orders. The matter has been listed for the next hearing on September 10.
New Indian Express
12-07-2025
- New Indian Express
NGT orders lessee to pay Rs 25 lakh for illegal mining in Odisha
CUTTACK: Taking serious note of illegal sand mining activities being carried out in Brahmani river at Tendra under Bonai tehsil of Sundargarh district, the National Green Tribunal (NGT)'s east zone bench in Kolkata has directed recovery of Rs 25.41 lakh compensation from the lessee. A tribunal constituted joint committee had confirmed that the private lessee had violated environmental norms by carrying out excess and unauthorised sand extraction from the river and calculated an environmental compensation of Rs 25.41 lakh to be imposed on the lessee. The bench comprising Judicial Member Justice B Amit Sthalekar and Expert Member Dr Arun Kumar Verma directed the district collector to file an action-taken report regarding the recovery of this compensation. The bench was hearing a petition filed by the late Jhadeswar Pradhan (60), a resident of Tendra. The petition alleged rampant mechanical sand mining beyond permissible limits and illegal transportation through villages using overloaded heavy vehicles, damaging private and agricultural land. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy appeared on behalf of the petitioner. Earlier, on April 4, the tribunal had constituted the joint committee to inspect the site and assess the validity of the claims. The committee's report confirmed that the lessee had indeed engaged in mining beyond the approved lease area, disturbing the natural flow pattern of the river. The report stated that out of 20,616 cubic metres of sand extracted during the 2024-25 financial year, about 5,339.78 cubic metres were illegally mined from outside the lease area. The matter has been listed for the next hearing on August 22, 2025.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NGT asks OSPCB to recover Rs 1.20cr green compensation from firm for illegal morrum extraction
1 2 Cuttack: National Green Tribunal ( NGT ) has directed the Odisha Pollution Control Board (PCB) to recover Rs 1.20 crore in environmental compensation from a firm for illegal extraction of morrum and utilising it in the construction of the Bhadrak-Nirgundi third railway line east zone bench in Kolkata asked OSPCB to take action for recovery of the compensation in accordance with law after giving full opportunity of hearing to the private firm engaged for constructing earth bed for the tracks. The bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) passed the order after a committee recommended to impose environmental compensation of Rs 1.20 crore on the firm while confirming illegal extraction of morrum in Tangi-Choudwar tehsil area."We do not wish to express any opinion on the merits of the computation of the environmental compensation as any observation made by us, may prejudice his defence in challenge before the same competent forum while availing the judicial remedies available to him under law," the bench clarified in its order issued on May 2 and uploaded on May committee was constituted to ascertain the veracity of allegations of illegal extraction of minor minerals made in a petition filed by Srikant Kumar Pakal and three other residents of the area. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy represented the was argued on behalf of the firm that there were many other contractors who were engaged by the railways over a period of time for the project but only their name had been singled the bench said the enquiry report was arrived at after examining various complaints against the firm and it was found that it had also deposited Rs 4 lakh towards royalty and penalty for illegal extraction of earth and morrum. "Therefore, the question of examining other contractors in the matter of alleged illegal extraction of earth and morrum carried out by the firm does not arise," the bench ruled."From the perusal of the enquiry report of the joint committee constituted by the tribunal and the documents filed on record by the state authorities, it is seen that the firm is a habitual offender in the matter of illegal excavation of earth and morrum for purposes of utilising the same in the construction of the Bhadrak-Nirgundi third line railway project," the bench added.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
NGT asks chief secy to probe ‘security lapse' in cracker blast at Puri yatra
1 2 Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the chief secretary "to institute an inquiry" into the "grave security lapse" that led to the firecracker explosion killing 17 people and injuring 25 severely during Chandan Yatra in Puri on May 29 last the order uploaded on Thursday, NGT's east zone bench further directed the chief secretary to "take appropriate action against those found guilty of gross negligence and lapse in taking proper security steps to prevent the occurrence of the incident in question".The bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Vijay Kulkarni (expert member) said, "For future, it is directed that no explosives of any kind shall be permitted in such religious functions where the swell of the crowd is not just in thousands but in several lakhs and even a small lapse can result in loss of lives of lakhs of people. One cannot rule out that such an incident can even be triggered by ill-intentioned and anti-social elements using more lethal explosives other than mere firecrackers."NGT was hearing a petition filed by Sanjay Kumar Nayak (46), a resident of Aska in Ganjam district, seeking direction to the authorities to take steps to prohibit bursting of crackers during the rituals of Lord Jagannath in Puri. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy appeared in virtual mode on the petitioner's ordering the probe, the bench said it was evident from the Puri collector's affidavit that no one noticed crackers being taken in a trolley and stacked at Dasa Tutha on the north-west corner of the Narendra Pokhari without permission from the competent authority. During Chandan Yatra on May 29, 2024, a cracker after being ignited hit the stack of crackers kept at Dasa Tutha, which led to all the crackers getting lit and causing a huge explosion."This clearly shows that there was gross dereliction of duty on the part of the district administration including the police authorities," the bench observed, adding, "The district administration and the police administration cannot be absolved of their negligence in such a grave security lapse." "In the instant case, it was stacking of firecrackers but one cannot rule out the possibility that it could have been something even more lethal resulting in a massive explosion causing extensive damage to the Lord Jagannath temple itself and loss of human life on a large scale," the bench also observed, while disposing of the petition."That apart, it cannot be ruled out that some offensive material could have been loaded on the trolley rickshaw and carried in the midst of the Chandan Yatra so as to offend the sensibilities of the devotees and thereby create a riotous situation," the bench said. It questioned why the district and police administrations didn't anticipate such an eventuality."The police swinging into action after the occurrence of the incident does not explain the lethargy and total inactivity and the requirement to be vigilant at all times particularly on the occasion of religious functions," the bench observed.
