Massive raids underway at mines, stone quarries in Odisha’s Jajpur

Dharmasala: The Mines department today conducted massive raids on some mines and black stone quarries located under Dharmasala tehsil limits in Jajpur district, which are still underway at the mine areas including Chadheidhara, Lunibar, and Dankari.

Allegedly, some mine and stone quarry owners have extracted major minerals beyond their permitted limits by virtue of long-term leases. Hence, they have earned handsome profits.

The raids were initiated by a team led by Joint Director Mines Nirmalendu Narayan Singhdeo and based on a written complaint earlier made by Dharmasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo. The team included the local MLA, Deputy Director Mines TB Munda, and Jajpur mining officer Jayaprakash Nayak.

A Poclain excavator machine was seized and a stone crusher was sealed during the raids.

“Appropriate actions will be taken based on primary assessments,” the Joint director said.

“Rampant illegal mining activities are going on in Rahadpur, Bichhakhandi, Anjira, Bajabati, Kusunpur, Chadheidhara, and Dankari areas. The mines were illegally extracted during the previous government and I had brought it to the knowledge of the Director of Mines, Jajpur district Collector, and several other senior officials,” Dharmasala MLA Sahoo said mediapersons.

“The ‘wrongdoers’ were earlier imposed a nominal fine and were let go. A year and a half have passed in the mean time and they have not even deposited the penalty amount. Now, reassessments will be made and, accordingly, fresh penalties will be imposed on them,” the local MLA added.