Akola collector admits excavation illegal but no action taken

Nagpur: Even as authorities have admitted that large-scale quarrying on the fringe of Katepurna wildlife sanctuary in Akola district is in violation of Supreme Court orders, all the three departments – revenue, territorial, and wildlife – have taken no action against any official in the matter.
TOI on September 29, exposed how Barshitakli tehsildar JK Hamand granted permission for illegal quarrying of murrum and gravel for road work to Swami Samarth Engineering, Pune, in the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) in August-September.
The act was brought to the fore by Sheikh Munna Sheikh, president, Sarpamitra Nisarga Sanwardhan Bahuuddeshia Sanstha, Akola, by launching a formal complaint with sanctuary officials on August 23. “However, even after two months, officials are just pushing papers and those involved have gone scot-free. Over 600-800 truckload of murrum was extracted from the spot,” Sheikh said.
The two big hillocks in Waghgad in Survey No 45 on the south-eastern part of the sanctuary were pulled down by the contractor. According to ACF (wildlife) VG Sable, the extraction was hardly 50 metres from the sanctuary border.
Thirteen days after TOI expose, departments are still to verify the boundaries and fix responsibility. The wildlife wing is passing the buck to territorial officials while the latter is engaged in finding out to whom the 17 hectares area where quarrying took place belongs.
Akola territorial DFO Vijay Mane said, “Mineral extraction was done in violation of laws in Survey No 45, but we need to fix the boundaries to fix responsibility. It is E-class land and road used to transport material belongs to wildlife. During my visit to the spot twice, I found some sanctuary pillars dismantled.”
“I have demanded maps from the revenue department and we are identifying papers to verify whether the land falls in the sanctuary or outside. Any permission for quarrying is routed through the forest department but this matter was never put before us. In a week, we will be ready with all the facts. It is true that tehsildar played a blind game,” said Mane.
Akola district collector Jitendra Papalkar expressed shock and surprise over the activity. “Agreed the tehsildar shouldn’t have granted permission if the area lies in ESZ, but why were forest officials quiet when such a big damage was done? They should have stopped it. I will take up the issue with the department officials at a meeting on October 15.”
The apex court directions are very clear. The final ESZ notification of Katepurna (73sqkm) is yet to be out. In view of the ESZ delay, the default area of 10km is treated as ESZ.
Proposals involving mining of minerals within the ESZ or one kilometre from the boundary of national parks and sanctuaries, whichever is higher, is prohibited as per SC order of August 4, 2006, in the matter of TN Godavarman Thirumulpad Vs UoI.
Meanwhile, Sheikh has moved an application requesting the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court to treat it as a PIL.