Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the state govt to pay an ex gratia of Rs 2.5 lakh within one month to the families of each of the three persons who died in a landslide at Dankari black stone quarry in Jajpur district’s Dharmasala tehsil on May 15, 2024.
NGT’s East Zone bench in Kolkata issued the directive in response to a petition seeking intervention against illegal mining by way of over-extraction at the quarry.
The petition was filed by Talcher-based United Youth for Sustainable Environment Trust following the deaths of three persons after a portion of the Dankari stone hill collapsed. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy made submissions on behalf of the trust. The final order was uploaded on Thursday.
While disposing of the petition, the bench comprising B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) also directed the state authorities to recover from the lessee, within two months, Rs 3.57 crore towards environmental compensation and Rs 3.81 crore for the over-extraction of black stone from the quarry, as stated in the affidavit of the deputy director of mines.