Illegal sand mining: National Green Tribunal pulls up panel for ‘shoddy’ report

By Express News Service
CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has rapped a joint committee over shoddy investigation into unlawful sand mining in Subarnarekha river at Benapur underneath Basta tehsil of Balasore district and directed for an additional inspection.

The NGT’s east zone bench in Kolkata issued the order on Friday after it discovered that every one the findings contained within the joint verification report submitted on July 6 by the committee have been based mostly upon the observations of the tehsildar of Basta. 

The report mentioned the joint go to was performed however the river was in flood and no mining exercise was occurring. It was ascertained from the tehsildar that mining actions have already been stopped earlier because the lease interval expired on May 1, 2021, it mentioned.

Expressing displeasure over it, the bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Saibal Dasgupta (Expert Member) mentioned, “We find the report of the committee to be quite shoddy. It is not mentioned anywhere as to why the committee did not take the assistance of the satellite images at least six months prior to the onset of monsoon and up to the date of expiry of the lease i.e. 01.05.2021 as it could have been determined from satellite images, depth of the available sand in the riverbed, the amount of sand mined and whether heavy vehicles were used”. The inexperienced panel has requested the committee to submit its recent report inside six weeks.

The committee was constituted on June 2 after Saral Kumar Parida, a resident of Basta, filed a petition looking for intervention in opposition to unlawful sand mining within the river by utilizing heavy machines which might be inflicting environmental degradation and altering the course of the river. The committee included Balasore Collector, Member Secretary of State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, senior scientist of State Pollution Control Board and mining officer of Baripada circle. 

The committee shall submit its report reflecting the standing as present prior to 6 months and as much as the date of expiry of the lease, the bench mentioned whereas directing for itemizing the case on August 24.