Nalagarh stone crushers throw pollution norms to the wind

Four stone crushers operating in the Manjholi area of Nalagarh have been found violating environmental norms with impunity.

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Apart from failing to renew their consent to operate (COP), they failed to respond to the notices issued by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) in July and August 2023.

Despite getting an opportunity to upgrade their pollution mitigation devices as per the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Berson Stone Crusher (SC), Manjholi SC, Jai Naina Devi SC and Santokh SC failed to comply with the directions.

Their re-inspection by the board officials in December 2023 also led to little outcome as they did not incorporate any measure as required to offset the air and water pollution.

“Colossal water pollution has been caused to nearby water bodies as no rain harvesting tanks have been provided to check surface run-off. Even the waste water generated from washing of sand and stone was found discharged in the nearby nullah, thus polluting it irreparably”, observed the board officials during inspection of the crushers.

Key pollution mitigation measures like undertaking additional plantation at the boundary of the crushers, providing dust collection and extraction system at every transfer point and adequate earthen de-silting chambers followed by a cemented storage tank have not been put in place noted the SPCB officials during the field inspections.

“On January 16, chairman of the board ordered to disconnect their power supply after the regional officer in Baddi cited violation of Sections 21 and 22 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and Sections 24 and 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,” said Praveen Gupta, Chief Engineer, SPCB, Baddi.

The executive officer of the Power Department has been directed to ensure compliance of the directions while the four crushers have been strictly directed not to operate using other energy sources, including diesel operated generators.