Villagers of Katakmada and Biritaila in Dhenknal district on Saturday urged the district Collector to close all crusher and stone quarry units which are creating environmental hazards in the area.

Over a hundred villagers accompanied by Senior BJP leader Rama Chandra Patra, Dhenkanal Bar Association President Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, former GP Surendra Mishra, social activist Priya Brata Gadnayak, wildlife honourary warden Pradyumna Prasad Rath, dramatist Dilliswar Maharana, litterateur Manoranjan Nanda and journalist Pradeepta Senapati filed a petition at the Collector in this regard.

They lamented that though the Dhenanal Regional Improvement Trust (DRIT) has declared historical Jatan Nagar and its nearby villages as green corridor area, yet the district administration has given permission for functioning of a mega crusher unit and stone quarry in the area.

Similarly, they also alleged that the administration didn’t take into consideration of elephants’ movement in the area before giving permission for the units. “The DFO has, in response to a RTI query, informed that 102 wild elephants were found in the Kakamada quarry area under Dhenknal Sadar tahasil between January 15 and March 2016. The district administration has evaded this aspect and given permission for crusher and stone quarry units,” they alleged.

They said the stone quarries will not only prove fatal for the wild elephants but also cause dangers for movement of domestic animals of the locality.

The units are polluting air, land and water. Besides, dynamite blasting is creating sound pollution, they alleged.

“Besides all these, the administration has also not conducted any public hearing camp to take consent of villagers. It is illegal,” alleged the villagers.