The Collector of Nuapada has finally started taking action against the stone crushers in the district, which were running illegally for years. The NOC (no-objection certificate) issued by the district administration for installation of crusher units in favour of Mahalaxmi Crusher at Baddohel under Khariar tehsil has been cancelled.
The Collector has also issued a show-cause notice to Khariar Tehsildar Gopalswami Naidu with charges of negligence and dereliction of duty, malafide intention for loss of revenue and for lack of supervision capability.
“It is clearly presumed that the Tehsildar, Khariar has neglected to supervise properly regarding illegal running of such crusher units and report to higher authority. Due to the negligence and carelessness of the tehsildar, the State exchequer has lost a huge amount of revenue towards royalty... it is explicit that without the knowledge of the tehsildar, a scandal like this cannot take place,” stated the Collector in his show-cause notice dated June 29.
The district administration earlier had formed a team consisting of an Executive Magistrate and police personnel to investigate the allegation of illegal operation of stone crushers in Khariar tehsil. Finding irregularities in procurement of minor minerals, the team had sealed seven crushers.
It is learnt from the district office that all other crusher units except Mahalaxmi were allowed to run as they produced supporting documents in respect of procurement of staked minor minerals (stone) in the crusher premises. The proprietor of Mahalaxmi, however, could not produce such documents in spite of being allowed reasonable opportunities, as a result of which the NOC was cancelled.
“Many other crusher units are running illegally in Khariar block,” says members of the Durniti Birodhi Manch (DBM), which had drawn attention of the district and State administrations regarding the illegal operation of crushers and stone quarries in the district. Is the tehsildar not aware of such scandals, which has caused revenue loss in crores to the Government,” they ask.
They further report that two crusher units at Bhulia Sikuan village under Khariar tehsil are also running without having authentic source of mining. “We demand cancellation of NOCs of all such crushers,” say the members.
It is learnt that, the DBM and the Zilla Adivashi Kalyan Sangha (ZAKS) have also filed written complaint to the Chief Minister, the Revenue Department and the General Administration Department demanding departmental action against Naidu. “We welcome the step initiated by the Collector in the form of a show-cause notice to Naidu and hope the Collector would recommend for departmental proceedings against Naidu for irregularities done in the past three years,” said ZAKS president Balakrushna Sabar.
The ZAKS, a few months ago, had brought a number of other allegations against Naidu. The tribal forum has claimed that Naidu in spite of being a non-tribal has got OAS in reserve category by possessing fake tribal identity.