Katepurna mining report seeks action against road contractor

Nagpur: The report submitted by the revenue and forest department in the illegal extraction of murrum in the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of the Katepurna wildlife sanctuary in Akola and Washim districts have recommended the filing of a complaint against trustees of Gupteshwar Gajanan Maharaj Temple Santhan, Waghagad and road contractor Shree Swami Samarth Engineering Company, Pune, in high court.
The report submitted by Akola district collector and deputy conservator of forest has also recommended to include the name of the Barshitakli tehsildar in the complaint after a green signal from Amravati divisional commissioner. Tehsildar Gajanan Hanmad had allowed the Pune-based firm to extract 600 brass murrum from the ESZ.
The report on violations was sought by the high court after local environment activist Sheikh Mohammed Sheikh Makbul aka Munna of Akola lodged a complaint. Munna termed the report as an eyewash and added that it protects both revenue and forest officials.
The findings are based on submissions by three separate committees set up on October 14, 2020, to verify the area of extraction, whether it was done in the sanctuary or outside, illegal tree felling and measurement of the mined area.
“Those who were hand-in-glove with the contractor were also members of the committee. So, how will justice be done? The temple trustees and contractor are being made scapegoats to save foresters and revenue department personnel,” alleged Munna.
The report (a copy with TOI) says that extraction was done in E Class land in survey number 45, which is around 300 metres away from the sanctuary in the ESZ. However, complainant Munna says, “Officials say extraction was done in survey number 45, which is not part of the sanctuary area. But as per the maps, the area is part of the sanctuary. There is no village called Waghagad as mentioned in the report. My complaint was about extraction in sanctuary compartment number 122 in Kasmar beat but the report makes no mention about it.”
“If survey number 45 is not part of the sanctuary then why did boundary pillars of the sanctuary uproot during extraction activity? The entire report is a cover-up bid by both the departments and to save their own skin they are putting the blame on the temple trustees and the contractor, who was granted permission by the tehsildar himself,” said Munna.
Akola district collector Vasant Papalkar says, “Some sanctuary pillars were wrongly installed at the spot where the extraction took place. The road which was used to transport the murrum doesn’t fall in the sanctuary area but is part of survey number 45 of Waghagad.”
On no action against tehsildar, Papalkar said, “We need permission from the government to prosecute any employee and hence permission has been sought to file a plaint against the tehsildar.”
On the large-scale tree felling in the ESZ, the report states that no trees were felled in the ESZ while extracting murrum. The 30-odd trees that were found dumped in the disputed area were the ones which were felled in July 2020 during widening of the Mangrulpir-Mahan road and were transported illegally on the request of temple trustees for fuelwood.
Munna says, “This is completely false. Why will the temple need so many trees for fuelwood? The entire report is misleading and the high court should set up an impartial committee to unearth the irregularities.”
Munna alleged both wildlife and territorial officials turned a blind eye to the illegal activity. “I filed the complaint on August 23, 2020, but physical investigations started after two months,” he adds.
The report with the signatures of Akola district collector and deputy conservator of forests was prepared on November 27, 2020, and submitted to the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court recently after the court sought a detailed report from APCCF, Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR).