NGT Imposes Rs 12 crore Fine on Sri Jagannath Temple Administration

Puri: National Green Tribunal (NGT) slapped a massive penalty Rs 12 crore on Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Tuesday. The NGT imposed this fine on the SJTA for the illegal mining on the land patches belonging to Sri Jagannath Temple in the Khordha district.

The NGT found illegal laterite stone mining on the land of the temple at Nijigarh under Tapang panchayat. This illegal mining is causing harm to the environment, for which the SJTA was heavily fined by the NGT. The SJTA will have to deposit the Rs 12 crore penalty with the collector of Khordha. The NGT has directed the Khordha collector to furnish an action taken report through an affidavit by March 31, 2023.

As per the order of the NGT, apart from collecting the fine from the SJTA, the Khordha collector Khordha Collector will also constitute a Committee for the purposes of carrying out work of restitution, reclamation & renovation of excavated areas as per the plan already prepared & complete the entire work within 4 months.