Telegraph (Kokata), Sept 16, 2008
Sambalpur, Sept. 15: Even being the storehouse of gemstones of all varieties, including diamond and ruby, western Orissa cannot contribute much to the state’s revenue with smugglers thriving on a precious business.
Just three days ago, a businessman at Kalahandi was arrested for possessing gemstones worth Rs 15 lakh.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for the fact that every year crores change hand in gemstone business in western districts.
Kantabanjhi in Bolangir district has earned its own fame for smuggling of gemstones. Businessmen from Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and other cities camp here round the year and collect precious gemstones from local agents.
Boudh and Sonepur — the district headquarters — also don’t fall behind. These two places are famous for diamonds collected from the Mahanadi river.
Diamonds collected from the Mahanadi riverbed has huge demand in international markets also.
The trade is also as massive in Deogarh as in other districts. In the inaccessible forest areas of the district, smugglers engage innocent people to explore gemstone, particularly garnet, quartz among others just paying them Rs 30-40 a day. They also work in dangerous condition in pits of 40-50ft deep. But the cream of the business is enjoyed by the smugglers.
Surprisingly, officials of forest, revenue, mining and police departments close their eyes to this trade everywhere. They act only when there is a complaint from the public.
A senior official of the mines department admitted the fact. “It is a tough task for us since we have limited manpower. But we never neglect when we get any specific complaint,” he added.
“If government and its different departments become active, crores could be saved from the hands of the smugglers,” said, Ranjan Patra, a local resident.
No comments:
Post a Comment