Lohardaga, Gopi Kunwar: Lohardaga is also identified as a bauxite city. Bauxite is traded on a large scale here. Some legal, most illegal. People involved in this illegal business are getting rich. Sometimes illegal bauxite is transported using fake number plates and sometimes the same challan is used multiple times. Bauxite trade is also being carried out indiscriminately through illegal mining from forest areas. But in the name of action the result is zero. Illegal transportation of bauxite is also taking place in Lohardaga through stolen trucks. When caught, people do not even get the truck released. There is a pile of such vehicles in the Forest Department premises.
Indiscriminate bauxite dumping yard in Lohardaga and Gumla
In view of the wealth in the illegal bauxite business, now bauxite dumping yards have been built indiscriminately in Lohardaga and Gumla districts, where bauxite is being brought and deposited illegally and is being legalized with someone else’s invoice. Recently, the mining officer had caught a truck coming out of the siding of PGS Minerals. In which there was a fake challan. It was going to Tupudana in Ranchi with bauxite. He arrested two people in this case and sent them to jail. The siding was suspended there. But PSG Minerals is now dumping bauxite in someone else’s siding. This trend is still continuing. Bauxite is being continuously stored through illegal mining from forest areas.
Bauxite dumping yard in the heart of the city
Lohardaga is such a wonderful district, where Hindalco Company has built a bauxite dumping yard in the middle of the city. As a result, Lohardaga city has become badly polluted. Due to the dumping yard the water level in that area has gone down significantly. Wells and borings have dried up. People are unable to sleep at night due to the sound of bauxite loading and unloading. Every day about 47 thousand tonnes of bauxite comes to this bauxite dumping yard from various bauxite mines by ropeway and truck. 17 lakh 33 thousand 750 tonnes of bauxite falls in this dumping yard every year. The entire area is plagued by its thunder and dust. Earlier the company used to sprinkle water to stop the dust arising from the movement of bauxite trucks in the city, but now that too has been stopped. Whereas all bauxite trucks pass through Lohardaga city only. Local leaders do not raise their voice against the company because the company has favored most of the people in some way or the other.
Noise and air pollution cause diseases
District President of IMA, Dr. Ganesh Prasad said that the worst effect of noise pollution is on children and the elderly. Air and noise pollution give rise to diseases like irritability, deafness, blood pressure, cancer, stress, insomnia. Excessive pollution can cause heart attack.
Department is continuously investigating: DFO
When asked, Lohardaga DFO Arvind Kumar said that many trucks have been seized due to lack of documents. The Forest Department is continuously investigating.