Jaisinghpur: Tikkar protests against stone crusher

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 8

Residents of Tikkar village and nearby areas of the Jaisinghpur subdivision today staged a protest, alleging that a stone crusher recently set up in the village was causing environmental degradation in the area.

A large number of villagers — including women and children — took to the roads in the area, demanding the immediate closure of the stone crusher. The crusher wreaked havoc on nature as it was being used for illegal mining, for which the hills were being recklessly cut, the protesters alleged. They added that trenches were being dug in the rivulets and forested land of the village was being destroyed. They said the pollution caused by the unit had made their lives miserable, with the elderly and children being the worst affected. Many persons were suffering from pulmonary infections and various diseases because of the dust, they added, stating that several residents had become asthmatic.

The protesting villagers called upon the state government to either cancel the lease/licence of the stone crusher immediately or direct the owners to install anti-pollution devices as per the pollution control norms and stop the illegal cutting of hills and digging of trenches in forested and private land, and local pastures.

They said while setting up the crusher, NOCs were not taken from the villagers in an open session of the gram panchayat, which was mandatory.

They accused the panchayat pradhan of issuing NOCs without taking the villagers into confidence.

Since the owners of the stone crusher were influential persons, including politicians, the grievances of the villagers against the crusher had not been heard for the past year, the villagers claimed.

Even the complaints they lodged through the CM helpline remained unattended, the villagers added.

The protesters called upon Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to intervene.

They also appealed to the High Court to take suo moto notice of the situation and appoint environmental experts to visit the area and examine the situation.

Talking to The Tribune, Palampur Divisional Forest Officer Sanjiv Sharma said the matter had been brought to his notice, and appropriate action was being taken against the offenders. No one would be allowed to damage the forest wealth of the area, he added, stating that his team was investigating the matter.

‘Taking toll on health’

• The protesting villagers said the pollution being caused by the stone crusher had made their lives miserable, with the elderly and children being the worst affected.
• Many persons were suffering from pulmonary infections and various diseases because of dust of the stone crusher, they added, stating that several residents, particularly women, had become asthmatic.
• The crusher wreaked havoc on nature as it was being used for illegal mining, for which the hills were being cut, the protesters alleged, adding that trenches were being dug in rivulets and forested land was being destroyed.

‘Action being taken’

• Talking to The Tribune, Palampur Divisional Forest Officer Sanjiv Sharma said the matter had already been brought to his notice, and appropriate action was being taken against the offenders.
• No one would be allowed to damage forest wealth of the area, he added, stating that his team was investigating the matter.

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