VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, June 8: The action of the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) against 69 stone crusher units in the Sahibganj district last year in the name of pollution control, may evoke the curiosity of the investigative agencies sooner or later.
It is widely alleged that the JSPCB’s action was aimed to cater to the interest of the mining lobby of the Santhal Pargana which is under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate in the ongoing money-laundering probe.
When the matter was raised during the budget session of the assembly by Independent MLA Saryu Roy, the Hemant Soren government said that it was done in the wake of the order of the National Green Tribunal. The JSPCB revoked the Consent to Operate (COT) to 69 stone crusher units on the ground of non-compliance with pollution rules. Later on, the JSPCB restored the COT of 23 stone crusher units.
The most interesting thing is the alacrity with which the JSPCB carried out technical inspections of the stone crusher units within a record five days. Many mining operators wondered whether it was physically possible for the JSPCB assessment team to visit all the sites within five days. COT cancellation orders were issued to all individual stone crusher operators, the inspection date is mentioned. In Sahibganj there are over 200 stone crusher and stone mining sites spreading over the tough terrain of the district.
“Whereas, the team of JSPCB had visited and assessed the Mines and Crushers of Sahibganj between 02/11/2020 to 07/11/2020 and pursuant upon that a show-cause notice was issued to your unit at the site by the Regional Officer, Regional Office, Dumka to appear in person at Board’s Headquarter on 24/11/2020,” the operative parts of the cancellation order read. The order was issued by the member secretary of the JSPCB Yatindra Kumar Das in August 2021.
“It is worth investigating that out of 69 the COT of 23 units was restored very soon. We are very eager to know how quickly the owners of these 23 units complied with pollution norms after the notice was sent which others failed to do,” said a local businessman of Sahibganj involved in the stone mining.
Questions are being raised on the technicalities also that whether or not the JSPCB member secretary can revoke and resume COT of any unit.
Another mining operator alleged to look the entire operation genuine the JSPCB revoked the CTO of two mining units of Maa Amba Stone Works of Pavitra Kumar Yadav, Shakti Stone Works of Shankar Kumar, and some others who are said to be close to Pankaj Kumar Mishra, the MLA representative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
On being contacted, member secretary of the JSPCB Yatindra Kumar Das said that the inspection had not taken place during his tenure. “I joined in July last year. I just issued the order for revocation of COT on the basis of the available report. I am not in a position to explain how the inspection and assessment of mining and crusher units were conducted in five days. They may have formed a number of teams for the same. As the member secretary, I assure you that nothing illegal can take place,” he said.
