Puri/Bhubaneswar: Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri, served a show-cause notice to 19 leaseholders of temple-owned stone quarries located in Khordha district

The show cause notice was issued by the SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee under Odisha Minor Minerals Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2016 on charges of mining beyond the lease limit.

Of 19 stone quarries, 17 are construction stone and two are laterite stone quarries.

As per the notice, the violators have been asked to pay royalties, incidental charges and penalties within a week for excess mining.

Further steps will be taken after receiving a reply from the leaseholders. If the leaseholders fail to comply with the notice, their mining contract will be canceled and the assets of Lord Jagannath will be protected, the SJTA chief warned.

After the show-cause notice, Devendra Nath Jena, one of the leaseholders at Kaipadar quarry, requested the temple administration to reconsider the penalty amount charged for the breach of law.

As per the notice, Jena has been asked to pay Rs 1,84,12,216 in favour of the SJTA office as fine for 1,22,857 cubic meter mining operation.

According to reports, Jena had deposited Rs 58,61,285 royalty amount on October 14, 2022, at the SJTA office for the year 2022-23. However, he had been granted permission for blasting for only one month since 2023.

Jena alleged that after waiting for 54 months, only one month of blast was allowed and during that period, time was spent drying water, road and earthwork.

Speaking on the issue, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said that strict action will be taken to safeguard the property of Lord Jagannath.

"The previous government in its past 24 years rule had never been concerned about safety of landed properties belonging to Lord Jagannath. We have started process to take everything forward on the basis of uniform policy prepared in 2023. Lord Jagannath owns approximately 58,000 acre landed property, of which the state government has the record of 37,000 acre. If the action will not be taken on basis of the record on paper, the encroachers will be beneficial," he said.

"All the stone quarries in Khordha district belong to Lord Jagannath's landed property. This is the time to stop all illegal encroachment. Those were getting benefits by encroaching the landed property for a long time, will be identified and action will be taken against them," the minister added.