Annoyed with the rampant irregularities in the functioning of the State Government, Chief Justice Virender Singh, in his verbal observation said that life has become so cheaper in Jharkhand that there was no one to hear the voices of the poor people.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice and Justice PP Bhatt on Wednesday was hearing a Public Interest litigation filed by Dewan Indranil Sinha, who claimed that excessive mining activities by Electrosteel Castings limited (ECl) at Chandankyari in Bokaro had led to methane gas explosion that, in turn, caused sudden blazes and posed a threat to man and animal of the area.
“What is this happeningIJ... life has no value in the State of Jharkhand… There is no one to hear the voice of poor people… This will not do,” observed the Chief Justice.
On the submission of petitioner’s advocate Rajeev Kumar that despite the fact that the plant was located on forest land, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board has given clearance to set up the company, the Court asked the government lawyer to get it verified by the DFO concerned that whether the company is actually located on the forest land.
According to Kumar, in Parvatpur and Sialjori areas of Bokaro it catches fire as soon as the drilling was done for tube-wells. Bubbles of methane gas could also be witnessed in almost all ponds of the area, due to which several people died and several others got sick.
“When the company was sought explanation, it said that it was not their responsibility as they have stopped mining in the area. They also said that overexploitation of water was not done by them,” said Kumar. The company further explained that the nature of the area was gassy due to which methane gas starts leaking automatically as soon as water soaks under the land.
An affidavit was filed in court by the respondent against which the petitioner’s advocate has been asked to reply within two weeks.