Illegal quarry in Jajpur
Revenue officials arrested 10 persons and seized five tractors and a truck loaded with stones from them at Baghua village under the Dharmasala tehsil in Jajpur district on Saturday.
Dharmasala Additional Tehsildar Ulash Sethi said the arrested persons along with some others had been illegally quarrying black stones from the hillocks near Baghua village for long without obtaining requisite permission from the authority.
Many locals alleged the stone-quarry activities have gone up drastically with the demand for the stone increasing in recent years. While local goons and contractors have been illegally quarrying in many hillocks, the authority was yet to take any step against them, they lamented.
They further alleged that illegal quarrying has been posing danger to famous Buddhist sites at Udayagiri, langudi and other small hillocks. These areas are being weakened and polluted due to illegal quarry, they said. “Since the quarry business did not involve any investment, contractors continue to mint money at the coast of environment, culture and lives of people,” said Manas Pradhan, a villager of Baghua.
Meanwhile, the district administration evicted around 30 persons from 42 acres of Government land in the Dharmasala area on Friday. “We will evict all the encroachers,” said Sethi.