Stone crushers to run from 6 am to 6 pm

Our Correspondent

Palampur, November 19

Residents of Jaisinghpur and NGOs fighting for environment protection have welcomed the decision of the state government to fix a time table for the functioning of stone crushers.

As per a notification of the government, the stone crushers will now operate only between 6 am and 6 pm everyday. Earlier, there was no time table for the stone crushers, which had made the lives of residents miserable. Most of them were functioning round the clock.

Adversely impacting health of locals

• A significant number of people are reportedly suffering from diseases like chest infection, tuberculosis, eye infection and skin allergies due to the dust emitted by the stone crushers in the Jaisinghpur area.
• Most of the stone crushers are located in a thickly populated area and are functioning round the clock.
• It is alleged that most stone crusher operators do not comply with the parameters set for pollution control.
• These units are required to instal water sprayers & fabric filter system to check emission of dust, but have hardly done it.

Dust emitted by stone crushers located in the Jaisinghpur area of Kangra district has been adversely affecting the health of the residents of 12 villages situated along the Beas and its tributaries.

Varun Bhuria and Ashwani Pandit, both members of NGO ‘Save Environment Save Neugal River’, told mediapersons here today that at present, a significant number of people were suffering from various diseases like chest infection, tuberculosis, eye infection and skin allergies due to the dust emitted by the stone crushers in the Jaisinghpur area.

They said that most of the stone crushers were located in a thickly populated area and were functioning round the clock in the absence of any check, adversely affecting the health of people, especially the elderly and children. They added that in Jaisinghpur, most of the stone crushers did not comply with the parameters set for pollution control. These units were required to instal water sprayers and a fabric filter system to check dust, but they hardly had done it, he added.

They said that they had written to the state Mining Department and the district administration several times demanding appropriate action against the erring stone crushers, but in vain. As a result, stone crushers had become a major health hazard, they added.

The NGO members said, “We are not against development but it should not be at the cost of human health. Flying dust emitted by stone crushers is a major cause of eye or skin allergy and breathing problems among villagers. A pollution-free environment is required to get rid of such diseases.”

#Environment #Palampur