Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has admitted an appeal challenging environmental clearance (EC) granted for operation of a 7.64-hectare black stone quarry at Aruha in Jajpur district, saying there was prima facie no reason to reject the plea at this stage.The NGT’s east zone bench admitted the appeal filed by Aruha resident Dusmant Kumar Bal against the EC issued by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, on Aug 17.Bal has sought quashing of the EC granted to a private lessee for Aruha Black Stone Quarry (Cluster Serial No. 2/3), alleging violations of norms in the grant of EC for operation of the quarry.One of his principal objections is that the quarry, being spread over more than five hectares, falls under the B-1 category and required a public hearing before grant of EC. He alleged that no such hearing was held.After hearing advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy, the bench comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert members A Senthil Vel and Ishwar Singh observed : “Prima facie, there being no ground at this stage to dismiss the appeal, the appeal is admitted for hearing on all questions including limitation and maintainability.”Accordingly, the tribunal issued notices to the member secretaries of SEIAA and Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), Jajpur collector and district magistrate, deputy director of mines, Jajpur, and the private lessee. The respondents have been directed to file their responses within two weeks of receiving the notices. The order issued on Sept 3 was released in the tribunal’s website on Sept 9.The case will come up on Sept 30, when the tribunal will also hear the appellant’s interim plea seeking restraint on grant of consent to establish (CTE) and consent to operate (CTO) for the quarry till disposal of the appeal.The appellant also told the tribunal that an earlier EC granted to the lessee was valid till Jan 17, 2025. During the period of its operation, SEIAA had directed a stoppage of stone extraction, he claimed. He further alleged that mining had already reached the maximum permissible depth of six metres.The appellant further claimed that an earlier petition filed by him before the tribunal alleging illegal mining and violation of EC conditions by the lessee is still pending, and the fresh EC was granted during its pendency.