Paradip, Feb. 24: The National Green Tribunal has restrained state government agencies from issuing fresh sand quarrying permits along the erosion-prone Brahmani river bed in Dharmasala tehsil of Jajpur, while responding to reports of river erosion and its adverse ecological impact.
The tribunal has put brakes on issuance of fresh temporary or permanent permits for sand quarrying along the erosion-prone and vulnerable river bed in Dharmasala tehsil.
Taking cognisance of a petition moved by Satish Biswal, a villager of erosion-hit Jenapur, the tribunal has directed the district administration to submit a compliance report on measures taken to stop unauthorised sand mining within three weeks, petitioner's counsel Shankar Prasad Pani told The Telegraph.
Sand mining was being carried out in the river bed without environmental clearance, which is mandatory under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. The ecology of the riverside villages is being adversely affected because of the illegal mining as it wipes out the natural sand dunes. As a result, the river embankment is being badly exposed to breaches, thereby threatening a cluster of thickly-populated human settlement such as Jenapur, Brundadeipur and Marjyadapur, Raichhanda, Panturi, Gokarnapur and several other villages. The natural course and flow of the river is being impeded and the water body is showing signs of changing direction following indiscriminate sand mining, the petition alleged.
Pani said permits had also been issued to the sand miners without any approved mining plan, environmental clearance and reclamation plan.
The tribunal, in an interim order, directed the administration to initiate action against the violators of the Orissa Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2004.
Water rights activists have also alleged that unabated sand mining activity along the Brahmani riverbanks has contributed to topographical change of the river.
Besides, the river beds are getting increasingly shallower due to siltation, further restricting the water-carrying capacity.
