Action taken again erring stone crushers: govt informs high court

HARIDWAR /HALDWANI: The government informed the high court on Friday that the Haridwar administration has taken action against the erring stone crushing units operating in five kilometers of radius along the Ganga.

The counsel on behalf of chief secretary S Ramaswamy was rushed after the high court rapped the top bureaucrat for not complying with the court’s order. Subsequently, the Haridwar administration swung into action and acted against all 43 stone crushers.

“Out of 90 stone crushers operation in the district, officials have initiated action for sealing 43 crushers,” Haridwar district magistrate Deepak Rawat said, adding he received orders to act against the stone crushers
on Friday morning.

On May 3, the high court ordered for the stone crushing units operating along the Ganga be closed down. The decision came on the contempt application of Haridwar-based Matra Sadan alleging that despite repeated orders, stone crushing plants are still operating under the 5-km periphery and illegal mining also going unabated, with district administration failing to adhere to the directive orders.

Matra Sadan founder Swami Shivanand Saraswati and Brahamchari Dayanand are actively taking forward the issue of illegal quarrying and the operation of stone crushers through agitation and legal route. “Illegal quarrying should be stopped at any cost to conserve ecology and the Ganga,” Swami Shivanand said.

Delay in shifting stone crushers of Haldwani and Lalkuan

More than 28 stone crushers operate between Haldwani and Lalkuan. The National Green Tribunal has recently ordered that the Himalayan Stone Crusher in Fatta Bangar be closed between 6 PM to 7 AM daily for giving respite to the people from noise and pollution.

Advocate Dushyant Mainali, who has filed petition against the stone crushers in Nainital, said the government had asked the stone crushers to shift from residential areas to other areas by November 2018. None of these units have shifted so far, he said.

in Haldwani, Himalayan Stone Crusher owner Bhumesh Aggarwal said the government had mentioned about a special zone but no work has been done in this regard. “Even though we will face logistic problem and other issues, we will move out if the government designates any zone for us.”