Illegal stone quarrying continues unabated in Sundargarh district posing environmental hazards and causing loss to the State exchequer.

Administrative sources said there are 118 stone quarries in the district. A few of them have lease licence while the rest have been granted permission through auction for one year by the tehsildars who are empowered to allot stone quarries which come under the category of minor mineral sector. But there is no official record of illegal quarries in the district.

According to unofficial sources, Panposh sub-division is at the top of the illegal quarry list with as many as 40 quarries dotting forest areas under Lathikata, Kuanrmunda and Bisra blocks of the district...............Read more

Source web page: The New Indian Express