CM has turned a blind eye to illegal quarrying: Matra Sadan

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 8

Matra Sadan founder Swami Shivanand Saraswati today accused Chief Minister Harish Rawat of turning a blind eye to the quarrying mafia. “The Chief Minister appears to be least bothered about the holy Ganga, as he has not taken steps to rein in illegal quarrying,” he said.

Shivanand, while addressing mediapersons at the ashram at Jagjeetpur village here, said the state government was not following the order of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that had prohibited quarrying on the Ganga riverbed and directed stone crushers to settle at a distance of at least 5 km from the Ganga.

He flayed Harish Rawat’s statement wherein he maintained that quarrying had been going on since the tenure of the previous BJP government led by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Rawat, instead of indulging in the blame game, should follow the CPCB directives, he said.

“The district administration gave quarrying permits recently, though for a brief period, but that can’t be done without the permission of the state government. Chief Minister Harish Rawat should look into the matter. Illegal quarrying on a large scale has been going on in the district,” said Shivanand.

He said Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act that came into effect during the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre under Rajiv Gandhi. He asked Harish Rawat to follow the norms religiously that were introduced by his party.

Meanwhile, the Stone Crushers Association has opposed prohibition on quarrying on the Ganga riverbed and also the CPCB directive that forces them to relocate at a place 5 km from the holy river.

Association president Nishant Bhairav said they had been following rules but Matra Sadan was misleading the administration and the media. “Thousands of people will get affected if total prohibition on quarrying is imposed. Uttarakhand will also suffer as illegal quarrying will mushroom through the mafia based in Uttar Pradesh, which want a ban on quarrying in Uttarakhand so that they can supply construction material at a higher price,” he maintained.