210 stone crushers in Haryana violate location criteria norms: National Green Tribunal

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 13

A total of 210 stone crushers were found violating siting criteria across Haryana, while 45 units were found to be non-complying with respect to air pollution control measures (APCMs), Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The NGT, in its order dated December 8, in regard of an execution application, ordered, “…the non-complying units in whose favour there is no stay, the state (Haryana) must take for the remedial action, including action against erring officials concerned of the Forest and Revenue departments, who may have given wrong reports when such stone-crushers were allowed and for assessment and recovery of compensation for past violations of environmental norms.”

It added, “Wherever compensation has already been assessed, the same may be recovered by taking appropriate coercive measures in accordance with law.”

Out of the 210 stone-crusher units violating siting criteria, 106 units have obtained interim protection from the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

“The consent of the remaining 104 units has been revoked/ expired and those units are not being permitted to operate,” said the HSPCB in its action taken report, dated December 6, to the NGT. Out of these 104, 52 are in Dharuhera 21 in Yamunanagar, 16 in Panchkula and 15 in Bhiwani.

The siting criteria is related to norms of location of stone crushers near forests, national highways, educational institutions, district roads, water bodies and village population.

The Board added that it had closed down 45 units which were non-compliant with the APCM. Out of these 45, 26 were in Nuh 10 in Panchkula, seven in Bhiwani and two in Dharuhera.

Earlier, in its order dated October 31, 2018, the NGT had asked Haryana to enforce norms for the location of the stone crushers at specified distance from educational institutions.

In 2019, the Sardar Patel Jan Chetna Education Society filed an execution application.

On July 21, 2020, the NGT, while pulling up the state government, observed, “We find that the state of Haryana has no jurisdiction to grant time once there is violation of environmental norms. The state is bound by the Public Trust Doctrine to enforce environment norms as such safeguards are part of fundamental right of citizens to life. Once it is so, the state has no discretion to waive compliance only on the plea of avoiding litigation.”

In pursuance of this observation, the state filed the action taken report on December 6 this year.

“We are pursuing with the Chief Secretary for action against the Revenue and Forest department officials,” said S Narayanan, Member Secretary, HSPCB.

Site-related rules

In its order dated October 31, 2018, the NGT had asked Haryana to enforce norms for the location of the stone-crushers. The siting criteria is related to norms of location of stone-crushers near forests, national highways, educational institutions, district roads, water bodies and village population

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