HSPCB to close all 14 stone crushers near Yamuna river

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, April 11

Following reports in The Tribune over the damage to a large portion of the “right lower down-stream embankment” (RLDSE) of the Yamuna river in Tajewala village of Yamunanagar district due to illegal mining, the local administration initiated corrective measures on Thursday.

A joint team comprising Haridev Kamboj, Executive Engineer of Water Services Division, Dadupur, Nirmal Kumar Kashyap, Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), Yamunanagar, and Rajesh Kumar, Inspector, Mines and Geology Department, Yamunanagar, conducted a joint inspection of the RLDSE.

According to information, the HSPCB will be closing down all 14 crushing and screening plants operating close to the RLDSE.

The regional officer of the HSPCB, Yamunanagar, had recommended the closure of eight illegal screening plants to the higher authorities of the board on January 25, 2019.

The regional officer on Thursday recommended the closure of the rest of the six screening plants, which had attained permission from the HSPCB in March 2018 and had been running since then.

The decision was taken because as per the Gazette notification of Mines and Geology Department, Haryana, on June 20, 2012, no mining is permissible in an area up to a width of 500 m from the active edge of the Yamuna embankment.

“We recommended the closure of six screening plants to higher authorities. Besides, we will soon close down all 14 screening plants,” said Nirmal Kumar.

Haridev Kamboj said the RLDSE with a length of 19,600 ft existed close to the old Tajewala headworks along the Yamuna. “The RLDSE was repaired as per Central Water Commission guidelines incurring Rs3,398.43 lakh in 2011-13,” he said.

Kamboj said illegal mining had posed a threat to the RLDSE. If it gets breached, it can damage the Hathnikund barrage and wreak havoc on villages in the rainy season.

Sanjay Simberwal, Assistant Mining Engineer, Yamunanagar, said they had written to the HSPCB to revoke the consent to operate those screening plants which didn’t have a mineral dealer licence. “We have already got several FIRs registered against persons involved in illegal mining in this area,” he added.

Curb on mining  

• No mining is permissible in an area up to a width of 500 metres from the Yamuna embankment. In all, there are 14 plants near the embankment
• The regional officer of the HSPCB, Yamunanagar, recommended the closure of eight illegal screening plants on January 25, 2019