Even as illegal brick kiln business has been running rampantly across Ganjam district for the last 30 years, the State Government is yet to implement orders of the National Green Tribunal, alleged lawyer Biranchi Narayan Mahapatra in a statement on Saturday.
“The NGT has issued directions to the Chief Secretary, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the district Collector repeatedly. As people belonging to the ruling party own most of the brick kilns, they are not taking any action and, thus, environment laws have been violated,” alleged Mohaptara.
Social worker Bishnu Prasad Misro filed a case before the NGT, Kolkata seeking closure of the brick kilns. The NGT division bench comprising justice SP Wangdi and Prof Pramod Chandra Mishra has repeatedly directed the Government officers to close the units but they have taken different pleas on different dates only to delay the process of law and to satisfy the Government as well as the ruling party, Mohapatra, who is managing the case on behalf of the applicant, said.
The Chief Secretary and the Collector have filed separate affidavits before the NGT with name and address of the illegal mafias, But they have only informed having demolished 180 numbers of illegal brick kiln units. But they are silent as to how many numbers of brick kilns were seized and how many offenders were arrested and forwarded to the court and how many bonded laborers were rescued, informed Mahapatra.
On December 14, the tribunal had passed coercive order against the 140 number of illegal brick kiln unit owners and issued so cause notices why Rs5 lakh penalty and compensation would not be imposed due to environmental degradation and top soil erosion.
Further, the tribunal had passed an order to categorise brick kilns as Category C (those run on permission for a period and did not renuew the same furthern) and Category D (those run without permission) and asked the PCB to impose penalties of Rs1 lakh and of Rs1.5 lakh, on them, respectively.
But the PCB on April 7 2016 submitted that in the all kinds of brick kilns have been categorized as moving chimney type and fixed chimney type and it has been dealing with the second type kilns as it is the only type permitted under the law.
In the meantime, applicant Misro has filed another 239 illegal brick field owners’ list to add as a party respondent in this case. The NGT would hear this affidavit on July 7 and issue further orders, informed Mahapatra.