Two complainants, Sashi Bhusan Patnaik, an RTI activist, and Sanjiv Kumar Palei, didn't appear before the Member Secretary of Odisha Pollution Control Board (OPCB) , Bhubaneswar for hearing the case against expansion of the Guali Iron Mines.
Sources \said a public hearing for the environmental clearance for the expansion of the Guali Iron Mines was held on March 8 against which a writ petition was filed in the Orissa High Court. The complainants requested that the public hearing be declared illegal and no environment clearance given to the firm.
The complainant had mentioned that the district administration didn’t follow the right procedure for making local people know about the meeting and, thus, many of them couldn't put their grievances in the public hearing.
Conducting a hearing, the HC ordered the Member Secretary ,OPCB, Bhubaneswar to again hear grievances of the complainants and dispose the issue within a period of three week. Accordingly, two days, June 11 and June 17, were fixed for hearing. But the complainants failed to appear on both days.
Sources close to Puskar Behera, Regional Pollution Control Office, Keonjhar said that nothing irregularities has been done. If the complainants fail to appear in the next date, the board would suo moto take the decision and refer the matter to Central Pollution Control Authority for clearance.