The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Sundargarh District Collector, Mines Deputy Director, Koida, DFO, Bonai and other respondents asking them to submit reports on an allegation of illegal use of forestland by the SAIl Barsuan Mines by July 6, 2017.
The tribunal has issued the notice in response to a petition filed by Dulal Singh of Barsuan. Singh alleged that the Steel Authority of India limited (SAIl) is using excess of 77.94 hectares of forestland at the Ml 162 in the Toda reserve forest for stacking and loading of iron ore in rail wagons without any approval from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, said his lawyer Sankar Prasad Pani.
The NGT has also noticed the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), the SAIl and the General Manager, South Eastern Railway.
The SAIl is engaged in iron ore mining in the Barsuan-Taldih- Kalta area with a capacity of 8.05 MTPA in an area of 2253.99 hectares of forestland.
In response to an RTI application, the DFO Bonai has confirmed that the SAIl was not granted final approval but was operating on a temporary permit that expired on February 9, 2016 and has not been extended.
The petitioner further alleged that even though all the concerned authorities are aware of such violation and series of forest offence cases registered in past, but none of them have prevented the SAIl from using the forestland.