Mining
Mafia Sponsored and BJD-backed Bomb Attack on Sarbeswar Behura, RTI Activist
of Jajpur district, Odisha
On 27th March , 21 Sarbeswar Behura, aged 52 well-known RTI Activist and
member of Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan (OSAA) while returning home in a four-wheller driven
by him from Imamnagar under Dharmashala Block of Jajpur district , two
motor-byke-borne men accosted him on the
way at 9pm and hurled four bombs on his
car. Sarbeswar along with co-passenger Sushant Behera was seriously injured and
hospitalized in SCB Medical, Cuttack and then transferred to a private
hospital. Presently he is under treatment and his life is out of danger. Rilu
Behura, wife of Sarbeswar Behura along RTI Activists Pradip Pradhan, Srikant
Pakal, Jitendra Sahu filed FIR in Dharmashala Police station on 28th March 21 at 3PM. The Police did not register the case on the plea that
they had registered
the case on its own after the incident.
This is not attack on Sarbeswar for
first time. Earlier Sarbeswar was attacked twice by the goons. Though he
filed FIR, the Police did not take any action to nab the culprits.
Besides filling
case in Odisha High Court seeking an inquiry into PDS Scam, Sarbeswar
along with co-social activists submitted
memorandum on 26.5.20 to BDO,
Dharmashala seeking an inquiry into higher price
demanded by Dealers per litre of kerosene and
non-distribution of Dal. The dealers Being aggrieved
by this case hatched conspiracy and filed a false FIR dt. 19.5.20
in Dharmashala Police station in order to harass Sarbeswar. The
police registered the case
against him . Similarly another
false case was also registered in
Kuakhia Police station against Sarbeswar
Behura on 17.2.20 , as he raised voice
against illegal mining operation by mining mafia. Then,
Sarbeswar approached Odisha Human Rights Commission seeking an
impartial inquiry into two fake FIRs
lodged against him and
sought protection. OHRC
registered the case no. 2155/2020 and issued notice to IIC, Kuakhia to submit
the report. The case is
pending for disposal.
As
a senior RTI Worker, Sarbeswar is well-known for his RTI Activism since 2014 in
Dharmashala block of Jajpur district for his pursuit to fight out corruption in
Jajpur district through use of RTI extensively to different offices. He has
used RTI to unearth corruption and irregularities in various Govt. programme starting from PDS to NREGA and construction
of latrines in Panchayats. He has become
eyesore of political leaders of ruling party, local MLA and mining mafia due
to his expose
on continuing illegal mining
operation, black stone quarry, illegal
operation of crusher Unit in Bichhakhandi Hill, Dankari Hill and adjoining areas under Dharmashala Tahasil. His RTI Activism is not only confined to exposing corruption but filing complaints
to different authorities including new-constituted Lokayukta, Odisha
seeking inquiry and action against the
culprits. These complaints have been filed against district
Collector, SP, Jajpur, illegal mining
operators, Class-1 contractors ,
Local MLA Pranab Balabantaray , Tahasildars, PDS dealers , Block Development Officer, Dharmashala , Marketing
Inspectors and many more. His
activism has also resulted
in exposing
corrupt character of
Nabin Patnaik Govt. , false and fake
propaganda of slogan “5T
and Mo Sarkar” , corruption
masterminded by BJD leaders having nexus
with mining mafias etc. Lokayukta
taking cognizance of all
the cases has ordered for
inquiry either by its
own directorate wing or State Vigilance.
Glimpses of his RTI Activism
to fight against corruption
in Jajpur district.
Jajpur
is major industrial hub of the state of Odisha. Huge illegal
mining operation , operation of
illegal black stone quarry ,
sand exploration by
mining mafia engaged by
leaders of Biju Janata Dal has become
order of the day. Accidentally, Sarbeswar
belonged to this area i.e, Dharmashala Block where
illegal mining operation is
rampant. Mining mafias backed by BJD leaders and administration are
seen looting mining causing
revenue loss worth
thousands of crores to state
exchequer.
Case No.1: Inquiry
into destruction of Irrigation Embankment Road by use of Dynamite explosion in order
to suppress substandard work and huge
irregularities of Rs. 24.00
crore in the construction of
said road under Dharamashal block of
Jajpur district.
On
7.9.20., while filling a complaint
before Lokayukta, Odisha , Sarbeswar Behura alleged that on 28th night of August,
20, the Irrigation Embankment Road
from NH-5 ( Gokarneswar ) to Budhalingam Majhipada Road ( length-20 kms) along embankment of Kelua river got destroyed at Niraghat by
explosion of dynamites and impression
was given that
due to heavy flow
of flood water , the
embankment got cracked
and damaged and damaged
4000 hect. of paddy.
But while visiting
the spot and inspecting
the damaged embankment along with
the people, he observed that
this destruction is not
due to flood. This
site does not witness
any strong current
in flow of flood water
to cause any damage
to embankment. He alleged that it was a
deep-laid conspiracy to destroy
it. He
also alleged that Sri Pranab
Balabantaray , local MLA and Sri Naren Jena , Junior Engineer
of office of the
Executive Engineer, R&B, Panikoili
Division and others
are behind the
conspiracy who have engaged miscreants to damage
this
embankment through use of
explosives in order to
suppress the irregularities and
misappropriation of huge
amount of money
in the construction work. About the project he stated that this project
was sanctioned in 2016 by the
office of the Executive Engineer, R&B, Panikoili Division with Agreement No. 21 P with an estimated amount
of Rs. 21.99 crores. Sri
Balakrustan Mohanty, Contractor was entrusted to execute the work
and complete by 30.4.2018. But,
the local MLA and
Sri Naren Jena, Junior Engineer close
relation of local MLA Sri Pranab
Balabantaray used local
hooligans to create
trouble for the
Contractors for which he
could not start
the work. The work got
delayed for two years and
the project cost
revised to Rs. 24.47 crore.
The construction of the embankment ended in
last part of 2019. Having seen
the low quality
of work, he filed
RTI Application to the PIO, office of Executive Engineer, R & B, Panikoili
Division , Jajpur seeking details of
information about this
work . But the PIO did not supply any information apprehending corruption being exposed.
The low quality of work is highly visible in the
road. In order
to suppress the low quality
of work of
being exposed, the Tahasildar,
Dharmashala and the Executive Engineer,
R & B, Panikoili established Check post
at Gokarneswar, entry point to Embankment road
in name of the District
Collector, Jajpur instructing for the same
in order to prevent illegal extraction and transportation of minor
minerals. But as per
RTI Information, the
letter dt. 16.1.20 issued
by the Collector, Jajpur to the
Tahasildar , Dharmashala does
not contain any information
or instruction for establishment of
check post at
Gokarneswar. Both the
Tahasildar and the Executive Engineer, R &B,
Panikoili have illegally
established check post
with intention to
suppress low quality of
work , as the minor
minerals-loaded Trucks hardly
ply on this road.
After destruction of embankment is reported in media,
the Chief Secretary and the
Collector , Jajpur have made
public statement in media
that it was man-made breaches in the embankment and accordingly
inquiry has been ordered.
On 29.8.20., the Deputy Executive Engineer, Jaraka Irrigation Division,
Jaraka, Jajpur filed FIR in Dharmashala Police station seeking an inquiry into
man-made breaches caused to embankment
by miscreants. Till yet no inquiry has been conducted so far. He has prayed before Lokayukta to conduct an
inquiry into the matter and take legal action.
Taking
cognizance of the matter LY-1027/20, Lokayukta issued notice seeking reply from Pranab Balabantaray, MLA, Collector,
Jajpur, Executive Engineer, R&B, Inspector-in-Chrage, Dharmashala Police
station about the allegation and
directed vigilance to conduct an inquiry . The Case is continuing.
Case No. 2. Misappropriation of Rs. 5,00,00,000.00 ( five crores)
by 12 OAS officers of Jajpur Tahasil under Collectorate, Jajpur within period of 2006 to
2016 .
On 25.7.2019., Sarbeswar filed
RTI Application to the PIO, office of
Collector, jajpur seeking copy of the
Special Audit Report of Audit
Team of Board of Revenue, Odisha.
On 10.9.19, the PIO, office of Collectorate, Jajpur supplied
the copy of Audit
Report. it was observed that as per the Board’s memo No.
206 /Aud. Dt. 2.4.16., Special
audit team of Board of Revenue conducted audit on
misappropriation of Govt. fund in Jajpur
Tahasil within period of 1.4.2006 to 5.4.2016. Audit
was conducted from 5.4.16 to
31.8.17. The Special Audit Report No. 02/2017-2018 submitted
to Govt. has made
detailed description of
how around Rs. 5 crore has been
misappropriated by a bunch of Govt. official of Jajpur
Tahasil starting from Tahasildar to Head Clerck, Nazir and many
others. The
Audit has strongly
recommended for departmental proceedings
and /or prosecution at the earliest moment under OCS (CAA &A) Rules,
1962/OCS (PENSION) Rules, 1992 on the basis
of audit paras. From a letter
provided under RTI, It was
also found that the State
Vigilance has registered a
case File No. 05 dated 20.1.2018 on
complaint of misappropriation of huge revenue
by the officials of Jajpur Tahail. A letter has been written by the Deputy
Superintendent of police, Vigilance, Jajpur
to the Collector, Jajpur in this
regard. Though Vigilance registered the case
, did not conduct any inquiry. Armed with RTI information, Sarbeswar filed
complaint in Lokayukta, Odisha
on 26.9.2019 seeking direction
to State Vigilance to
complete investigation and
take action against 8 Tahasildars involved in looting public money.
Lokayukta , Odisha took the matter
seriously registered the complaint LY Case
No. 371/2019 and ordered the
Vigilance to complete investigation. On 6.3.20, the Supdt. Of Police, Vigilance, Cuttack Division submitted
the detailed report before the Lokayukta, Odisha. In this report, he has
submitted with reference to report
of EO that
“ Enquiry Officer
has recommended for registration of two
criminal cases ( a criminal case
against Sri Rajat Kumar Routray, Ex-Nazir, Sri Sarat Ch. Barik,
Ex-incharge Head Clerck ( Retd. ), Sri
Ajay Kumar Sahu, Ex-Head Clerck
& Sri Gourahari Behera , Ex-Tahasildar , all Ex-officials
of Jajpur Tahasil u/s
13(2) r/w 13(1) (c )(d) of P.C.Act 1988/409/477-A/120-B IPC for
misappropriation of Govt. money
of Rs. 79,52,613.00 during the
period from 31.3.2009 to 28.5.2010.
Another Criminal case against Sri Rajat Kumar Routray, Ex-Nazir,
Sri Sarat Ch. Barik, Ex-Nazir, Sri Ajay Kumar Sahu, Ex-Head Clerck & Smt. Mamata Barik, Ex- Tahasildar , all
Ex-officials of Jajpur Tahasil
u/s 13(2) r/w 13(1) (c )(d) of
P.C.Act 1988/409/477-A/120-B IPC
for misappropriation of Govt. money
of Rs. 2,26,69,825.00 during the
period from 20.9.2010 to 31.10.2013.”
The EO has
also recommended for initiation
of Regular Departmental action
against Sri Rajat Kumar Routray,
Ex-Nazir, Jajpur Tahasil A/pr. Senior
Clerck , Vyasanagar Tahasil, Jajpur
( Group-C) with recommendation for
recovery of misappropriated amount
of Rs. 72,432/- from him.
The EO has
further recommended for registration of criminal case against Sri Rajat Kumar Routray, Ex-Nazir,
Sri Sarat Ch. Barik, Ex-Nazir, Sri Ajay Kumar Sahu, Ex-Head Clerck & Smt. Mamata Barik, Ex- Tahasildar , all
Ex-officials of Jajpur Tahasil
u/s 13(2) r/w 13(1) (c )(d) of
P.C.Act 1988/409/477-A/120-B IPC
for misappropriation of Rs. 12,11,335.00 from 1.6.2020 to 6.2.2014.
showing fake purchases of different articles and amount
collected in different dates not taking to cash book in Jajpur Tahasil. Sri
Sareswar halso again
approached the Lokayukta dt. 2.11.20
about inaction of Vigilance.
Case No. : 3 Huge
irregularities in allotment of 4
houses to one family by Panchayat
Executive Officer, Taranjia Gram
Panchayat of Dharmashala Block of
Jajpur district.
Sarbeswar got the information under RTI that Sri Rabindra Parida of Taranjia
village and his family members Taranjia Gram Panchayat under Dharmashala Block have been allotted 4
houses under various
schemes within span of 19 years
and the Panchayat Executive Officer of Taranjia
Gram Panchayat has selected
him to allot another
houses in 2019-20. On 6.9.19.,
after obtaining this
information, the villagers of the
GP personally met
District Collector, Jajpur and
submitted him memorandum
seeking inquiry into it.
But the Collector
did not
conduct any inquiry. He filed
complaint dt. 1.9.19 before
Lokayukta, Odisha stating that the
Panchayat Executive Officer,
Taranjia GP was hand in glove
with many local
touts and politicians and
involved in illegal allotment
not only this family
but many families violating
Govt. guideline. Registering the case LY 317/19, The Lokayukta ordered BDO,
Dharmashala to conduct an inquiry . The BDO, Dharmashala Block conducted
the inquiry and found allegation true . He
recovered the money from the beneficiary and initiated disciplinary proceedings
against Panchayat Executive Officer and Junior Engineer . Till yet, no action
has been initiated against them.
Case No. 4: Huge
irregularities and misappropriation of entire fund amounting Rs. 2 lakhs in name of
construction of Pipe Water supply in
Sundaria Gram Panchayat under Dharmashala block of Jajpur district.
As
per information obtained
under RTI Act, an amount of Rs.
2,00,000.00 ( two lakh rupees) was spent for construction of Drinking water project through pipes in Haradeipur village under Sinduria Gram Panchayat of Dharmashala Block under 14th
Finance Commission Fund during 2016-17. When RTI information was verified, it
was found that no such
project had been
implemented by any agency
of the Govt. so far. The whole
amount of Rs. 2 lakh had been
misappropriated by the officials with false
bills. On 24.9.19., Rilu Behera , wife of Sarbeswar Behura had
filed complaint to BDO, Dharmashala, PD, DRDA, Jajpur for
inquiry into the matter. But the
BDO did not conduct an inquiry rather suppressed it. On 28.11.19, hearing the
Case
LY-414/2019 , the Lokayukta, Odisha had directed
to the Block Development Officer, Dharmashala to personally inspect the bore-well by getting the depth- measured and thereafter submit the report. In compliance order of the Lokayukta, the BDO, Dharmashala block submitted his report dt. 7.1.20 which says that on measuring
the depth of bore-well by the Executive Engineer, RWSS , it was
found that the
depth was only 36.4
metres and not 63 metres as shown in the
measurement book. The
four persons namely
(1) Sri Managobinda Baral ,
Ex-PEO, (2) Smt. Puspanjali Sahu, EX-GPTA, (3) Sri Debudattaray Mohapatra, Ex-Assistant Executive
Officer , ( 4) Smt. Gayatri Panda, Sarapanch of Sinduria GP have
jointly misappropriated an amount of Rs. 41,492.00
Acting
upon the Inquiry report, the
Lokayukta, Odisha had issued notice
to all the four persons for their
reply and called for the
views of the competent
authority i.e., Minister-in-Charge , Panchayat Raj and Drinking Water. The Minister
confirmed that all the above four persons are
responsible for irregularities and misappropriation of Govt. fund
towards execution of pipe
water supply in Sinduria Gram Panchayat. The
Minister has also mentioned that
necessary action is being taken
against erring persons. The view of the Minister
is based on the report
of the Collector, Jajpur who too in his report dated
14.2.20 has confirmed the
irregularities and misappropriation of fund by Sarapanch and all
three officials. The Collector, Jajpur has also reported that the
disciplinary proceedings has been
initiated against (1)
Sri Managobinda Baral , Ex-PEO, (2) Smt. Puspanjali Sahu, EX-GPTA,
(3) Sri Debudattaray Mohapatra, Ex-Assistant Executive
Officer and action against Gayatri Panda, sarapanch recommended
for initiation of
proceedings under section 115
of Odisha Gram Panchayat Act. On
15.9.20., On the
basis of the report
of the Collector, Jajpur and views
of the Minister, Panchayat Raj and DW,
the Lokayukta , Odisha directed
to the State Govt.
to ensure completion of the
disciplinary proceedings against 3 officials within a period of 5 months. The
Lokayukta also recommended to the
Principal secretary, Dept. of Panchayat Raj and DW
to immediately initiate
proceedings under section 115
of the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act
, 1964 and complete the
proceedings within 5 months. They have
challenged order of Lokayukta
in High Court. Though the High
Court has not granted
any stay , the administration is
yet to take any action against them.
Case No.-5: Misappropriation of
Rs. 1,80,180.00 by officials
of Jajapur Tahasil, Jajpur in
name of setting up of pillars
in Mineral Lease areas under
Dharmashala Tahasil .
While responding to an Assembly Query
raised by the MLAs , Mr. Sudam
Marandi, Hon’ble Minister for Revenue
and Disaster Management, Govt. of
Odisha replied dt. 20.11.19 that ( Point No. 4) DGPS Survey
has been conducted by ORSAC
for pillar posting in mineral
lease areas in order to check
theft of minor minerals across the state.
With reference to this reply of
Hon’ble Minister, RTI Application
dt. 21.11.19 was submitted by Sarbeswar Behura to the PIO, office of the
District Collector, Jajpur seeking
information about details of
fund utilized for
DGPS Survey and Pillar
posting in mineral lease areas
in order to check theft
of minor mineral in Dharmashala Tahasil. The Senior
Revenue Assistant of Revenue
Section of the collectorate, Jajpur supplied the
information that Rs.
1,80,180.00 has been utilized for
setting pillar post
under Dharmashala Tahasil. Armed with
this information, Sarbeswar personally inspected
all the minor mineral lease areas
of Dharmashala Tahasil to find
out pillar post
established to check mineral
theft. But he could
not find a
single post in any place
under the said Tahasil. The whole amount has been misappropriated by the
officials of Dharmashala tahasil . He
filed complaint to Lokayukta ,
Odisha to conduct an inquiry into the matter. The case was
registered as LY-1249/20. Lokayukta
has already directed Collector,
Jajpur and Tahasildar
, Dharmashala to file the reply. The
case is pending.
Case
No. 6: – Loss of
Crores of rupess revenue
to state exchequer due to
unholy alliance of District administration, Jajpur with
mining lease holder Sri Trinath
Jena, At/Post-Aruha, Dist-Jajpur
On 1.9.2017, the Tahasildar,
Dharmashala following OMMC Rules
-2016 issued advertisement
inviting application from
bidders for granting
lease for Aruha Black Stone Quarry No. 1 under Dharmashala Tahasil of Jajpur
district for a period of five years. The land
schedule is as follows.
LAND
SCHEDULED
|
Mouza |
Khata No. with status |
Plot |
Area |
Kisam |
|
Aruha |
779 (AAA) |
2811 (P) |
Ac. 3.00 |
Pahada |
On 25.9.2017,
the sealed tender Box
was opened before the Bidders. All together 5 nos of application were
received in respect of the quarry on
scrutiny of the documents. After
scrutiny, the following bidders came
out successful as first and second.
|
Sl.No |
Name and address |
Additional charge offered |
B.G./ Solvency |
EMD |
|
1 |
Harihar Sahoo |
380.00 |
Rs. 580000.00 |
Not submitted Rejected |
|
2 |
Kartik Ch. Behera |
222.00 |
Rs. 8000000.00 |
Rs. 175000.00 |
|
3 |
Trinath Jena |
Rs. 80.00 |
Rs. 3000000.00 |
Rs.106000.00 |
As the 1st highest bidder failed
to deposit security deposit
and his letter of acceptance , the 2nd highest bidder
Sri Trinath Jena , Ar/Post-Aruha, Dist-Jajpur was
granted lease of Ac. 3.00
for black stone quarry from the
period 2017-18 to 2021-22. Sarbeswar complained before Lokayukta dt.
24.11.20 that as per
land record available
with us, the
black stone quarry area ( Pahada)
is about Ac. 153. 630 in which only Ac.3.00 has been
leased to Sri Trinath Jena, lease holder.
But this Trinath Jena
has undertaken black stone
quarry and extracted illegally
lakhs of tones of black stone
throughout the Hill
covering 100 acres of area
in collusion with Tahasildar, Dharmashala and local
police. This illegal
black stone quarry has caused
crores of rupess revenue loss
to state exchequer with
knowledge of Collector, Jajpur and Tahasildar, Dharmashala who are the beneficiary of this
illegal money earned from illegal
mining . Taking cognizance of the matter LY -1355/20,
the Lokayukta has directed Collector, Jajapur and Tahasildar, Dharmashal to reply
on this allegation.
Case
No.7: Non-Closure of Operation of Crusher Unit by Collector, Jajpur
On
6.7.20., while filing complaint before Lokayukta, Sarbeswar stated that on 17.3.20., he had submitted RTI Application to the PIO, office
of Regional Office, Odisha State
Pollution Control Board, Odisha,
Jajpur Road seeking information
about details of permission ( consent to operate)
granted to Crusher Units to operate
in Jajpur district. On 31.3.20,
the PIO supplied all the required information.
While going through
the document, he
observed that the Regional
office vide letter No. 325/PC-106 dt. 12.2.2019 has issued letter to the Collector, Jajpur
district for implementation of
direction of closure of hot mix plants in Dharmashala Tahsil. Earlier the said office
has issued several
closure notice to the 5 hot mix plants vide
letter no. 26 dt. 9.1.2018,
letter no. 827 dt. 15.3.2016, letter no. 32 dt. 9.1.2018 , letter no. 94 dt.
15.1.2018 & letter no. 100 dt. 15.1.2018
for closure of this
plant which is
being operated without
obtaining consent to establish
and consent to operate which
is violation of Water
Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981.
Despite several letters
sent by State Pollution Control
Board, the Collector having
nexus with these
plants has not taken any steps for
physical closure of operation
of these five Hot
mix plants ( M/s Kalibalia Hot Mix plant, M/s Infra engineers Private Limited, M/S Bhabani
Kinkar Infrastructure Pt. Ltd., M/s M.D.S. Hot Mix Plant , M/s
Divine Construction in Dharmashala Block. The operation
of these plants has
destroyed the environment causing
huge loss to the
life and livelihood of the local
people. Lokayukta has already issued notice
to the Collector, Jajpur seeking reply on this allegation.
Case No.8: Loss of
Revenue of crores of
rupees due to
operation of illegal quarry
of black granite stone and running of
illegal crusher units around
Bichhakhandi Hills under Dharmashal Tahasil of Jajpur
district by mining
mafias in collusion with officials
of Revenue and Forest Dept. and Police
administration of Jajpur district
Bichhakhandi Hill , area of Ac. 890.27 dcl. Comes under BICHHAKHANDI Mouza of
Dharmashal Tahasil is located
adjacent to Balaram Pur Protected
Reserve Forest in Jajpur district. This
Hill is full of Black granite stone . As it comes under category of
Protected Reserve Forest, no permission has been granted for leasing out this Hill for extraction of minerals by Govt.
of India. Due to huge illegal mining
operation, the forested covered Hill has almost become barren land . As per the information obtained under RTI from office of Tahasildar, Dharmashala
and
office of DFO, Cuttack Forest Division, illegal quarry of Black granite stone is going on in large scale in and around Bichhakhandi
Hill by mining mafias since last few years. Though it is a forest land ,
no forest clearance has been obtained from Ministry of Environment and Forest,
Govt. of India. No lease has been granted
to anybody for Black stone quarry in this Hill.
This large scale illegal
quarry along with excavation of
thousands of tones of
minerals is going on openly with
the knowledge of the officials of Revenue Department and Forest Department and local
police. Tons of Black stones are
excavated and sold by Mafias
with the knowledge of the administration causing
huge loss to
state exchequer. Huge extraction
of mineral has caused environmental hazard in the locality.
Sarbeswar brought it to the
notice of the district
administration several times to take steps against Mafias. On 12.7.2019, he wrote letter to several authorities i.e., Chief Secretary, Odisha, Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Central Division, Collector, Jajpur, Chairman, State Pollution Control board, SP, Jajpur, Tahasildar, Dharmashala
seeking immediate action to stop illegal
stone quarry in Bicchakhandi Hill. On
7.2.19, the Tahasildar, Dharmashala has
written to Divisional Forest Officer, Cuttack Forest Division,
Cuttack intimating him about
large scale illegal stone quarry
in many places of Bichhakhandi
Hill which has caused huge
revenue loss and environmental
imbalance in the area. He has requested DFO, Cuttack to take
appropriate action against mining mafias and maintain environment balance. On 28.3.2019, Tahasildar, Dharmashala again
wrote the letter to DFO, Cuttack Forest Division appraising him
about operation of large no. of
illegal quarries and running of illegal crusher Units in and around Bichhakhandi Hill. He has
requested DFO, Cuttack to check/ prevent
illegal mining and running of crusher
Units in the forest land.
On 8,2.19, the
DFO, Cuttack Forest Division wrote
letter to the Collector, Jajpur appraising
him about huge illegal operation of mining activity and requested
for taking quick
action along with cancellation of NOC to Crusher Units and establish
along the peripheral
boundary around Balarampur
PRF. He has requested
to the Collector , Jajpur to
conduct regular joint raid involving
district administration and police administration ( letter of DFO is attached as annexture-5). But till yet, the
District Collector, Jajpur has
not taken any steps
to check illegal mining
operation in the Hill.
As per
information obtained under
RTI, the Collector, Jajpur has
granted NOC to 12 no.
of crusher units
for its operation in Dharmashala Tahasil. But hundreds of Crusher Units are in
operation in Dharmashal Tahasil and around
Bichhakhandi Hill. Though District administration is aware about
this illegal mining operation , no step was
taken because of
nexus of the officials
with mining mafias who are
backed by political leaders of the
ruling party. The
mining mafias have engaged a number
of local people for extraction of
black stone in the Hill. It
is reported that
as there is no safety
measures and protective equipment
is not provided to the
labourers, many of them succumbed to death. The
police, Jenapur police station
has registered two no. of cases
of human causalities against mining mafias
for death of
labourers who were engaged
in mining work. On 8.2.21.,
Sarbeswar filed complaint
petition in the office of lokayukta, Odisha seeking crime branch
inquiry into the matter and take
appropriate legal action against mining mafias and Govt. officials. Lokayukta registered
the case LY
No.- 120/21
and issued notice
to the District Collector, Tahasildar, Dharmashala to
file their reply
and fixed 13.4.21
for hearing of the case.
Case No.9: PDS Scam
In view of large
scale-corruption and irregularities in distribution of food grains to the
beneficiaries, denial of ration to some families and collection of higher
price per litre of kerosene from the Ration Card holders in
Dharmashala Block, Sarbeswar Behura took up this issue and made a
thorough survey to identify the beneficiaries who have been denied ration
under NFSA. On 6.4.20., he filed a PIL case No. WPC 11667/20
in Odisha High Court drawing attention of the court about
denial of ration to eligible households, rampant Fake Ration
Card in Dharmashala block, loot of rice by Dealers and Govt.
officials and prayed for seeking direction for the inquiry
into it and supply of ration to all bonafide ration card holders under
PDS. Acting on the Writ petition, on 3.8.20,
the hon’ble High Court directed to State Govt. , Collector,
Jajpur and DO, Dharmashala to conduct an inquiry and complete
the same within six weeks. While conducting
inquiry, the district administration
cancelled card of many fake
beneficiaries and included many
genuine beneficiaries in the list.
Case No. 10 : Dankari Loot
causing loss of
thousands of crores to state
exchequer.
Dankari Mining Loot- Another
Mega Mining Scam worth Rs. 4000 crores perpetuated by BJD leaders and Govt.
officials under Nabin Patnaik Govt. in Odisha.
This is a glaring
case of loot of
minerals engineered by Nabin Patnaik, Chief Minister and his Ministers MLAs causing
crores of rupees revenue loss
and protecting mining mafia
and erring officials.
i.
NGT Order – Eye Opener
The issue
of Dankari Mining
loot has come to
limelight after intervention and series of orders passed by National Green Tribunal following
complaint petition No. 604/2018
filed by Sarbeswar Behura ,
RTI Activist and
Member of Odisha soochana adhikar Abhijan. The gist of the order
of NGT dated 4.1.19 is as follows.
A.
Chief
Secretary, Govt. of Odisha was directed to initiate appropriate departmental action for the misconduct of the officers involved
in permitting illegal black
stone quarrying as found by the inspection committee constituted
by NGT. Apart from such disciplinary action, the state has to recover the cost of illegally mined material, cost of damage to environment , Net present Value of ecological services foregone
as well as cost of
restoration of the environment.
B.
The State Govt.
and statutory authorities must
anticipate, prevent and attack the causes
of environment degradation and
are accountable for inaction as well as collusion.
C.
To uphold rule
of law
and accountability of those who are
trustees of environment , the state machinery is required
to compensate for their negligence and failure
which may act as deterrent
against the officers who neglected
their basic duty of protecting
the environment or colluded with the
polluters and law violators. This
is required as a part of principle
of “ polluter pays” which
applies not only to actual
polluters or enable pollution to be caused
and also for the negligence of
public duties , adversely
affecting the citizens.
D.
The State Govt.
can not avoid the
responsibility for the
damage caused to the environment. Accordingly
, NGT held the
state Govt. to be liable
to deposit an interim compensation
of Rs. 25 crores which may
be deposited with the
Central Pollution Control Board
within one month, pending the final assessment on receipt of the report of the
committee being constituted. The State
Govt. has the liberty to recover
the amount from the erring
officers and the illegal
miners/ stone crushers . The amount
recovered will be utilized for restoration of environment
and for the welfare of
mine workers and local population
affected by diseases due to illegal mining.
E.
NGT also
constituted a joint committee of
representatives of CPCB, Indian school of mines, Dhanabad, and Chairman,
State Environment Impact Assessment Authority ( SEIAA) to
make an assessment of the amount
of illegally mined materials , cost of damage to environment , net present
value of ecological services
foregone as well as cost
of restoration of the environment
and exemplary damages .
F.
NGT has
fixed 6.5.19 for next
hearing of the case.
ii.
Sequence
of Struggle of RTI Activist leading to intervention of NGT
·
Dankari Hill
forest area , storehouse of blackstone mines comes
under jurisdiction of Dharmashala Tahsil of Jajpur
district, Odisha. This area,
habitation of 700 population of Dankari village under Mahisara Gram Panchayat is 15 kms
away from Dharmashala Tahsil. Sribasa Jena , a former Zilla Parishad of Biju Janata Dal, rulling party , highly politically
influential person closely
connected to local MLA and
state power corridor undertook
illegal mining operation I,e, extraction of
black stone mines in Dankari
Hill with complete
support from district
administration in 2002. He carried out
wagon drill for black stone mining quarry which caused huge
water and environment pollution
in the locality.
·
When his illegal mining
extraction was at peak stage, Sarbeswar Behura, RTI Activist from 2012 started
filling series of RTI Application
to different offices including office of Tahasil, Dharmashala,
Collector, Jajpur and Deputy Director, Mines, Jajpur Road seeking
information about details of lease
granted , area covered, copy of
environment clearance , details of
royalty paid etc. The
information provided by
different offices exposed
about mining operation
without valid lease and
environment clearance. Then , Sarbeswar
filed series of complaints to
different authorities with
prayer to stop illegal
mining operation in Dankari
Hill. But due to political pressure, no
authority did take any
action against the illegal miner.
·
Then, in 2014, he
filed a PIL case in Odisha High Court seeking
direction of the court to stop
illegal mining operation
in Dankari Hill. But he could
not get appropriate order
from the court. In the meantime , in 2015, 30 to 40
villagers died of kidney
damage, liver problem and
other diseases due to huge
water and environment pollution. A large number
of villagers are also
found suffering from various
diseases due to pollution generated from illegal
mining operation.
·
Then, Sarbeswar filed
complaint case No. 4323/15 in Odisha Human Rights Commission on 30.11.15
seeking direction for inquiry
into illegal mining operation
and to check health hazard
in the area. OHRC issued direction to Satya Mallik, the then
Collector, Jajpur to conduct inquiry
and take action accordingly.
·
The Collector in his letter
No. 3408 dated 27.11.15
ordered for closure
of operation of illegal mining in Dankari Hill. On 13.12.15,
he also wrote letter
to Deputy Director, Mines, Jajpur Road
to quantify total amount of Black stone mines extracted from the
Hill . In response to letter of
the Collector, the Deputy Director, mines, Jajpur Road submitted
a report dt. 18.3.16 to the Collector
in which he has mentioned that
total quantity of 73, 38, 012.5 cum has been illegally extracted
by the Mining operator.
·
On 10.5.16,
the Collector, Jajpur wrote
a letter to Secretary , Revenue
and Disaster Management informing about illegal
mining operation in Dankari Hill
, loss of royalty due to illegal mining operation and suggested for a state squard to make an assessment of damage
done /loss of revenue sustained to state government.
·
On 18.5.16,
the Collector wrote
a letter to Tahasildar attaching
report of Deputy Director, Mines, Jajpur Road to quantify
revenue loss of amount
of black stone mines extracted
by deducting the royalty
paid by
the mining operator. The
Tahasildar calculated
details of royalty amount
deposited by Sribasa Jena against
mining extracted to the tune of 14,15,596 cum and compare
it with figure of total amount of mining extracted as per report of Deputy Director, Mines. The
Tahasildar wrote a letter to Sribasa Jena, Mining operator about
extraction of excess amount of mining
69,22, 016 cum against
which royalty amount
Rs. 58, 62, 79, 633.00 to be
deposited with copy
marked to Collector.
·
On 8.6.16, Sribasa Jena challenged the order of Tahasildar in Odisha High Court and got stay order. On
28.9.16, the High Court
ordered for fresh inquiry and provide
reasonable opportunity to
Sribasa Jena of being heard
prior to taking any decision about
fixation of royalty.
·
On 21.6.16, Mr.
Deepak Mohanty, Director, Mines
wrote a letter to the Collector, Jajpur to constitute a committee comprising the revenue, Mining and police officials for
getting reassessment done with the assistance of State level Enforcement
squad of this directorate.
·
On 4.7.16., Sri Abhaya Nayak, Joint Secretary, R7DM wrote a letter to the
Collector, Jajpur that
i.
Collector shall
calculate the royalty amount
for the excessquantity of black
stone extracted by the lessee and issue demand notice
to Sri Sribasa Jena , the lessee
and recover the same immediately.
ii.
Penalty may
also be levied for the illegal
extraction of the minerals
from the sources.
iii. Total extent of revenue loss and excess lifting should be
assessed by the joint team
comprising officers of Mines and
Revenue administration, constituted
Collector, Jajpur.
iv. Collector
should file FIR for the
theft of black stone to the
extent excess than the allotted quantity.
v.
Collector may initiate
disciplinary proceedings against
the concerned R.I.s and recommend with memo of evidence for drawal of proceedings against Tahasildars and other
higher authorities.
vi. On the basis of
the facts reported and theft done in violation of the lease
conditions, the lease agreement , if in force any, should
be terminated by the
Collector following due procedure
of law.
vii.
Immediate steps
should be taken for fresh
auction of the source, as per revised OMMC Rules.
·
Following order
of Department of Revenue and Disaster Management dated 4.7.16, the
Additional district Magistrate (
ADM), Jajpur dt. 23.8.16 submitted
to the Collector, Jajpur framing the memorandum of evidence
for drawal of proceedings
under Rule-15
of the Orissa Civil Services (
Classification, Control and Appeal )
Rules, 1962 against the 10 erring Revenue
Inspectors of Dankari R.I. Circle
under Dharmashala Tahsil in
connection with the illegal
extraction of Black stone from Dankari
Black stone quarry and loss of
revenue incurred during their incumbency
as Revenue Inspectors. The
Revenue Inspectors were
directed to submit their written
statement of defence within 30
days from the date of receipt of memorandum and also to state if they
desire to be heard in person.
·
On 6.8.16., the
ADM submitted to Revenue
and Disaster Management the
draft proceedings against the 10 erring Tahasildars of Dharmashala in
connection with the illegal
extraction of Black stone from Dankari
Black stone quarry and loss of
revenue incurred during their incumbency
as Tahasildars. The Tahasildars
were directed to submit their written statement of
defence within 30 days from the date
of receipt of memorandum and also
to state if they desire
to be heard in person.
·
Similarly, on 11.8.16,
the ADM submitted to Revenue
and Disaster Management the
draft proceedings against the 6 erring Sub-Collectors in
connection with the illegal
extraction of Black stone from Dankari
Black stone quarry and loss of
revenue incurred during their incumbency
as Sub-Collectors. The Sub-Collectors were directed
to submit their written statement of defence within 30 days from the date
of receipt of memorandum and also
to state if they desire
to be heard in person.
Though notice for
disciplinary proceedings was
issued to 10 Revenue Inspectors, 10 Tahasildars and 6
Sub-Collectors, it was
kept pending for years together. No action was taken against
erring officials till yet. These officials
were protected by the State Government, political leaders , local MLA and
others.
·
Then
Sarbeswar Behuria filed
complaint to NGT
IN July 2018 seeking inquiry into
illegal mining extraction and played
for action against the officials.
After registering the
Complaint No. 604/2018, NGT has ordered
dated 31.8.18. to the Secretary,
Department of Forest to constitute a team
with representatives from SPCB,
Sate Level environment Impact Assessment Authority 9SEIAA), Odisha and
Collector, jajpur and a representative from forest department and to
furnish an action taken report. The Forest
Dept. submitted the report to NGT
on 7.12.18. Following which
the NGT passed above-mentioned
order .
iii.
Harassment of
Sarbeswar Behura
While taking up this issue , Sarbeswar has faced a
lot of difficulties . He has been
attacked by the goons
several times and threatened of
attack and murder. Five number of false cases have been
filed against him in local police
station. His home was broken down and set fire by miscreants.
Sarbeswar’s relentless struggle
and fight to expose corrupt
officials, mining mafia and disgruntled BJD leaders has
brought to limelight mega
loot of mineral sources and revenue loss
of thousands of crores . In some cases, he has succeeded and in
some other cases, he is struggling. The
petrol attack on him is the large r conspiracy of
Mining mafia, BJD leaders, local
MLA Pranab Balaantaray and corrupt revenue officials and police
administration to finish him.
Prepared
by
Pradip
Pradhan
State Convener
Odisha
Soochana Adhikar Abhijan
M-9937843482
Date-
30.3.21
