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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.
