KULLU: At least five stone-crushing units operating on the Yamuna riverbed in Paonta Sahib area of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh were found to be violating environmental norms.
A report by a joint committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) reveals that the stone crushers are either partially or not at all complying with the environmental regulations set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). These units have been directed not to resume operations until the state govt permits.
Located in Rampur Ghat village of Paonta Sahib sub-division, stone-crushing units M/s Yaksha Industries, M/s Rock Lime and Allied Products, M/s Balaji Stone Crusher, M/s Ashutosh Gupta, and M/s Shubhgiri Industries were inspected twice by the joint committee members in March and May this year.
In the report, submitted recently to the tribunal, the joint committee stated that the crushers were found to be partially complying or not complying at all with as many as 10 environmental norms. The joint committee members, including Sirmaur ADM L R Verma, CPCB scientist Narender Sharma, HPSPCB regional officer Atul Parmar, and the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) scientist Anup Kumar Das, found during their inspection that the units were neither properly covered to prevent the emission of dust nor did they have a dry dust collection system and bag filters to prevent air pollution. Allowing dust emission, the conveyor belts in the crushing units were also found not covered, and there were no telescopic chutes, which direct the material flow into vehicles, installed at discharge points to prevent air pollution. The team also found that there were no wind-breaking walls of the mandatory minimum three feet height around the stone-crushing units to prevent dust from spreading in surrounding areas. The owners of the units also did not build metalled roads within their premises, and the team found there were no water sprinklers or anti-smog guns used in the units.
Some units were also found to have not built washing plants and sedimentation tanks to prevent water pollution in the area, and the owners failed to create green belts around their operational areas by planting two-three rows of tall trees, states the report. All units were found to be complying with the CPCB guidelines of installing CCTV cameras at the units.
The report stated that the units had been directed not to operate without completely complying with environmental norms. “As mining operations remain banned in Himachal Pradesh during monsoon, permission to restart operations will be given only after verifying compliance and reinspecting the units,” states the report.
The report is silent on allegations of illegal mining being carried out by stone crushing units located near Rampur Ghat village. As per the report, there are five other stone crushers operating in the same area. NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava, last year in Dec, ordered the formation of the joint committee following a letter petition by Sarvjeet Singh, a local resident.
In his petition, Sarvjeet alleged that stone-crushing unit operators were engaged in illegal mining in Rampur Ghat. The applicant also alleged that the stone crushers were operating without following environmental norms and causing air and water pollution in nearby agricultural areas. According to the petition, huge clouds of dust could be witnessed in Rampur Ghat, which is badly impacting the flora and fauna of the area.
