75 stone crushers to face closure in Yamunanagar district

Following the dismissal of 27 writ petitions (filed by owners of stone crushers) by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as many as 75 stone crushers shall face closure in the district, besides several crushers in other districts.

The crusher owners had challenged the validity of the Haryana Government's 2016 notification.

In the writ petitions, they alleged that the notification infringed upon the petitioners’ fundamental rights to carry out any occupation, trade or business as guaranteed to all citizens under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution, and that the petitioners held licences to operate crushers for the period up to March 31, 2022.

They further alleged that the crushing zones, as proposed at Doewala and Balewala villages of Yamunanagar district, couldn’t be expanded to include all crushers located around the proposed zones.

They also alleged that the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) could not refuse to renew/grant consent to operate (CTO) without any omission and commission on the petitioners' part after allowing them to operate crushers continuously for 19-22 years.

According to information, the crushers are not meeting the parameters cited in the notification. As per the notification, the minimum distance required from the nearest village 'phirni' (periphery)/lal dora should be 1 km.

The crushers will have to close operations of their units as the HSPCB had not renewed their CTO.