Restore stone crushers' operations: MLAs to CM

Palampur, November 13

Kishori Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary and MLA Baijnath, and Kewal Singh Pathania, MLA from Sahapur, today met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at his residence in Shimla. They urged him to restore the functioning of all stone crushers in Kangra district which had been stopped by the government on August 26 after flash floods.

They said the closure of stone crushers had adversely hit development activities in Kangra district. Those should be allowed to function now.

They told the Chief Minister that closure of stone crushers had not only resulted in hardships to the public but also rendered hundreds jobless.

Development activities hit

• Baijnath MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary said the closure of stone crushers had adversely hit development activities in Kangra district
• They said that closure of stone crushers had not only resulted in hardship to the public but also rendered hundreds jobless
• Most of the labourers working on the stone crushers had already left for their home states. Even if the government lifts the ban now, it could take 10-15 days for operations to become normal

Most of the labourers working on the stone crushers had already left for their home states. Even if the government lifts the ban today, it could take 10-15 days for operations to become normal, they said.

Both apprised the CM that Kangra district had been the worst hit as the prices of construction material in Kangra had skyrocketed following the decision of the government to close all stone crushers in the district.

“The stone crusher owners of Punjab are exploiting the situation and selling sand and crushed material at double the price. The spike in prices has brought most of the ongoing construction activity to a standstill across the state. Even government departments are finding it difficult to procure material for the repair or re-carpeting of roads,” they added.

The state government had ordered closure of 82 stone crushers in Kangra district after the flash floods on August 26. The number of stone crushers closed in Nurpur subdivision was 56 and in other parts of Kangra district was 26. All these crushers were set up on the Beas riverbed.