200 crusher units run illegally

BHUBANESWAR: Two hundred illegal crusher units are still operating on land, belonging to Puri Jagannath Temple, in Khurda district.
Although Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) in January had told the district collector to close down the units, no step has been taken. Official sources said the units have been established without conforming to environmental norms.
"We will inform the temple authorities about illegal functioning of the units on its land. Our office will try to get details about location of such units," said OSPCB regional officer Hadibandhu Panigrahi.
He said the crusher units have violated 'site' criterion. "We had served closure notices to the illegal units. The Khurda administration should have closed down the units immediately after the closure notices were served," said Panigrahi.
According to air (prevention and control of pollution) Act, 1981, after closure notices are slapped on units violating site criterion, the administration is empowered to dismantle them, said senior environmental scientist with OSPCB D K Behera. Chandikhol and Khurda have highest number of illegal crusher units, he added.
Khurda additional district magistrate Umakanta Tripathy said they would close down the units only in the presence of pollution control board officials. "Crusher unit owners availed the land from Puri temple administration paying some amount. Since the lands belong to the temple, we have little control over them," said Tripathy.
In January last year the temple administration had carried out a drive and cleared 270 temple land of unauthorized encroachments. Jagannath Temple has about 3,000 acre in Khurda district.