Acting upon a report published in The Pioneer on November 10 on violation of environmental norms and State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) guidelines by several crusher units, the Khariar Tehsildar served notices to these units directing them to produce copy of environment clearance certificate and permission of the competent district authority.

However, the crusher operators are not serious on the issue as the notice of the Tehsildar is ambiguous. “The environment clearance is given for mining activities by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and not by the SPCB. The SPCB accords consent to operate stone crushers,” say the crusher operators, adding, “We have already submitted the consent order of the SPCB to run our crushers.”

However, reports said none of the units, except Suchita stone crusher, has submitted the environment clearance although the deadline fixed by the Tehsildar has passed. There are 14 stone crusher units operating in Khariar Tehsil, but only five of them have obtained consent order of the SPCB.

The crusher units operating in area bordering Balangir district have not even taken mining lease of stone quarries in Nuapada district. One unit owned by Bijay Jain located in Badi village has no quarry lease in Nuapada district, but the unit is operating regularly obtaining stone from a quarry in Bangomunda block of Balangir district.

It is learnt that the unit has not been issued any permit (R form) by Khariar Tehsil for supply of materials, but it is supplying materials undisrupted. likewise, another unit situated in Podapali village owned by one Shyam Agrawal has no quarry lease in Nuapada.

The unit has not even obtained consent order from the SPCB.  It was seized by the Khariar Tehsildar in 2009 when it was operating in another location without having the consent order of the SPCB.

The owner shifted the whole unit to Podapali after a year of seizure and started operating again violating all rules and regulations. Nine such units in the Tehsil run illegally with the full knowledge of the Revenue department, but there is no legal action against them.

“Violation of rules by the crusher operators and mining lease holders is an open secret,” says an official of Khariar Tehsil office. “The Tehsildar himself has violated rules in allotting lease of different Sariat sources (minor minerals),” adds the official. Documents obtained by one Kshirasindhu Sagaria, an RTI activist, confirm this, he informed.

Khariar Tehsil has allotted lease of 16 Sariat sources for the year 2014-15 violating Rule 35 of the Orissa Minor Mineral Concession (OMMC) Rule – 2004, which states that lease in respect of Sariat is to be held on public auction.

Chapter-VI of the OMMC Rules contains the detailed procedure with regard to auction of Sariats, which makes it binding on the competent authority (Tehsildar) to float auction sale notice/ advertisement in news papers and invite sealed tender from interested parties.  But in case of the lease of these 16 Sariat sources, the authority has neither floated any advertisement nor have the applicants submitted their quotation in sealed envelope as per the rule.

It is learnt that, the leases have been accorded through negotiations with the parties. However, the authority has tried to show in papers that the sale of Sariat has been done through auction sales. “We do not know the laws relating to mining permission and pollution control. The crusher operators in connivance with corrupt Government officials destroy our environment,” say the villagers.