13 stone crushers face closure in Hamirpur

r Correspondent

Hamirpur, July 18

As many as 13 stone crushers in the district are facing closure following the Supreme Court order to protect water bodies.

The apex court had directed all state governments to examine the status of stone crushers in respective states and those found within the 100-m radius of water bodies should be closed down.

There are 22 stone crushers in the district. These were made operational only after getting clearances from various government departments.

There was a condition to install a stone crusher at a distance of 100 m from a water body. It was learnt that the departments had accorded permission after taking all mandatory provisions into consideration, but some crusher operators had violated the norms during installations.

The norm of installing a stone crusher 100 m away from a water body was flouted. There was also confusion over perennial and non-perennial water bodies.

Mining official Harvinder Singh said he was waiting for the guidelines to know the exact distance between the crushers and the water bodies.

If non-perennial water bodies would be taken into consideration, almost all crushers could face action, he said.