NGT Imposes Rs 42 Cr Fine on Odisha Company for Illegal Mining

Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a hefty fine of Rs 42 crore on a private construction company engaged in a rail track laying project from Nirgundi to Bhadrak. The company is fined for the illegal mining of minor minerals.

In their petition before the NGT, RTI activists Srikant Paikal and others alleged that the Sambalpur-based Construction Company was involved in open illegal extraction of minor minerals from Tangi-Choudwar tehsil of Cuttack district.`

The petitioners requested for NGT’s intervention to stop alleged illegal mining of weathered laterite and ordinary earth from Mania, Uchapada from government land without environmental clearance in Tangi-Choudwar Tahasil of Cuttack district.

It was alleged that big trees were cut down for this illegal mining from revenue and forest land. Though the local Tahasildar collected royalty and penalty, he did not initiate Criminal Prosecution to prevent further illegal mining.