Pollution, blasting: Nuapada locals want stone quarry shut Friday, 24 September 2021 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA
Pollution, blasting: Nuapada locals want stone quarry shut
A stone quarry located in Rishigaon Mauza of Khariar Tehsil in Nuapada district, Rishigaon Stone Quarry IV, has become a cause of concern for local residents.
They are demanding immediate closure of the quarry as the validity period of the consent to operate (CTO) obtained from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) by the lessee has already expired.
"There are many problems which are totally overlooked by the authorities," rued villagers.
"The greenery around the village is totally lost; you will find layers of dust everywhere. Furthermore, the village commons which once indirectly supported our livelihood are no more in our control. The most dangerous impact of the stone quarrying, however, is the vibration of blasting that is affecting our houses. Most houses in our village have developed cracks due to the tremor," said villagers.
Most people in the village said they had raised objections when the tender for quarry lease was floated. "There are many reasons why we objected," said Sarpanch of Rishigaon GP Malyabanta Suna. "The quarry area starts hardly 20 meters away from the village; the Highway is very close, less than 200 meters. Besides, Rishipith and Jogimath, which are important archaeological sites of the district are within a vicinity of two km. Blasting and quarrying is bound to affect the surrounding," he added. He also informed that the plan for construction of an overhead tank for drinking water supply to the village was aborted due to the quarry operation.
"We drew attention of the administration, but they didn't pay any heed to the questions we raised; the drinking water supply project remains incomplete," said the villagers.
Malyabanta further informed how a PIL filed in the Orissa High Court with a prayer to stop the tender process became ineffective, when the court directed the Tehsildar to hear the case.
"The lessee asked the labourers, who used to work in the quarry previously to put their signatures giving their consent in favour of the quarry lease. Basing on that, the decision was taken by the tehsil in favour of the lease holder," added Malyabanta.
"Priority of the daily wage earners who get regular employment in the quarry would certainly be in favour of quarry operation; environmental and future concerns would take backseat in such a situation," said State secretary of SC Communities, Fakira Jagat. "Rishigaon and Sargadi villages have become the den of stone and crusher mafia, who monopolize over the stone mining.
They better know how to manipulate the situation to gain the maximum. Connivance of corrupt officials in this whole process cannot be denied," he told. Most villagers are aggrieved that their concerns have not been addressed.
"The lease holder does not care about people and the locality, he is extracting stone from," they complained. Records availed from the tehsil by Kshirasindhu Sagaria, an RTI activist, also proves that the allegations raised by people are true.
The lease holder has started excavating stone in December 2017 immediately after signing the lease agreement, without obtaining certificates from the OSPCB to establish and operate the quarry.
"This is complete violation of OMMC rules and conditions of lease agreement," said an official of Khariar Tehsil requesting anonymity. Records shows that the lessee has applied to OSPCB for consent to establish (CTE) in January 2019 and the certificate was issued to him on February 16, 2019.
In between, the lessee has extracted stones ofabout 2040 cum in 15 months. The quarry obtained the certificate for CTO on December 30, 2019 and in the meantime, the total production ofmaterials crossed over 4,000 cum. The total production allowed to the lessee within the lease period is 8,198 cum, and half of that target has been reached without obeying the rules.
"The RTI documents reveal that the lessee had been submitting details of quantity produced and dispatched every month to the Tehsildar inForm 'J' since December, 2017.
The Tehsildar, Khariar has issued notices two times to the lease holder to stop quarry operation until the consent to operate is obtained but has never taken any legal action against the lessee for violating rules.
On the contrary, the lease holder has been repeatedly issued notices by the Tehsildar to deposit Government dues i.e. the royalty towards extraction. This reveals the lackadaisical attitude of the concerned officials towards the rules and guidelines," said Kshirasindhu.
The locals are very much aggrieved due to the large-scale damage to the hills and increased level of air pollution owing to blasting, stone cutting and the movement of trucks.
They also question why the concerned authorities are allowing the operation of the quarry, when the validity of the Consent to Operate has already expired on March 30, 2020.
“It might be a stone quarry for a lease holder and a sairat source forthe Revenue Department, but for us it is still a virgin land fit for natural forest growth. Had the Revenue Department left it to us, we would have protected it for regeneration of forest," said Malyabanta.
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