Authorities imposed prohibitory order to prevent illegal quarry of black granite stones
By Akshya Rout
Jajpur,Mar 5 ; The district administration on Sunday imposed prohibitory order of section-144 of Criminal Procedure Code at the hillocks of Samia under Darpani tehsil in Jajpur district to prevent illegal quarrying of black granite by some stone lifters, said Subha Darshan Mishra the Tehasildar of Darpani .
We have not leased out the hillocks to any person for stone quarrying . But some people had been illegally doing stone quarry –works. After getting allegations from the villagers we stopped stone quarrying, added the officer.
Many locals expressed happiness after the officials stopped illegal stone quarries at Samia and other Buddhist sites of the district.
The district is also known for its famous Buddhist sites of Lalitgiri , Ratnagiri and Udayagiri known as the diamond triangle . But many people are not aware about many unknown Buddhist sites and heritage and ancient monuments of the district and its nearby areas. The government should protect all the Buddhist sites by banning quarry works , said Harish Chandra Prusti, a noted Buddhist scholar of the district.
The famous Buddhist sites in Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri are world class heritage sites . But the Buddhist sites in Kaima, Tarapur, Deuli , Sukhuapada, Parabhadi and other famous hillocks are being neglected by the authorities. Very few tourists visit these Buddhist sites .
While Article 51A of the Constitution says it is the duty of every Indian to protect the heritage of the country, citizens also need to have the skills or someone to guide them to know how to preserve heritage, added Prusti.
Four years back, the district administration had sealed four illegal stone quarries at another hillock at Dankari after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Secretary, Forest and Environment Department to constitute a joint inspection team to ascertain facts pertaining to illegal stone quarries operating in and around Dankari hillock and take necessary actions against the quarry mafias and close the illegal quarries.
Six years back, , Dharmendra Pradhan the minister of petroleum and natural gas had urged the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to provide 600 acres of land to set up the country’s largest strategic reserve for storing 3.7 million metric tonne (MMT) crude oil in Jajpur district. As per the direction of the state government the district administration had also selected around 600 acres of land for this purpose at Dankari.
