Villagers hold march against stone crushers

Palampur, May 10

Residents of the Halehar panchayat in Jaisinghpur subdivision today again protested against the installation of new stone crushers in gross violation of rules of the National Green Tribunal and the state’s environmental laws.

Villagers marched through the markets of Jaisinghpur and reached the SDM’s office.

Later, they submitted a memorandum to Jaisinghpur SDM Sanjiv Thakur with a request that no environment clearances be given to new stone crushers in the area. They also opposed the large-scale illegal mining going on in Halehar khud.

The residents told the SDM that stone crushers already functional in the village had resulted in various problems, particularly to the elderly.

They complained of chest infections, eye ailments and tuberculosis because of the large-scale pollutants emitted by the stone crushers. They said the deep trenches dug up by the mining mafia for the extraction of stone and sand had resulted in the death of small children and animals.

Meanwhile, the SDM assured the villagers that he would forward their demands to the state government for further action.

The villagers also alleged that despite ban, large-scale mining was going on unabated in Halehar khud.