Order against stone-crushing units hits construction industry

Order against stone-crushing units hits construction industry

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, March 5: An order by the State Government directing all stone-crushing units to cease operation with immediate effect has landed the construction industry here in trouble.

 

 

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) issued an order on March 1, 2011, to this effect in view of a Supreme Court order confirming an order of the Karnataka High Court pertaining to shifting of stone-crushing units to safe zones in the State.

The KSPCB order mentioned that the verdict of the High Court in a writ petition read: “…that all stone-crushing units located at present location shall be deemed to have been directed to be closed.’’ The KSPCB order said: “All stone-crushing units in the State shall not operate with immediate effect and any disobedience will lead to contempt of court.’’

C.D. Kumar, Senior Environmental Officer, KSPCB, Mangalore, told The Hindu on Friday that the board started issuing closure order to such units in the district from Thursday.

Sudesh Kumar, secretary, Canara Builders’ Association, said that if all stone-crushing units stop operation, entire construction activities here would come to a standstill.

Mr. Kumar said that 22,000 dwelling units in apartments had been lined up for construction in the jurisdiction of the Mangalore City Corporation.

He said that there was a shortage of gravel. Closure of the crushing units would only compound the problem. Roy Rodrigues, engineer-cum-contractor, said that as this was the season of construction activities, builders and contractors had some stocks of gravel.

The builders would feel the heat after a month. If there was any disruption in the supply of gravel, the cost of construction would go up. An official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said sensing trouble, the NHAI had taken up this issue with the Chief Secretary of the State. Widening of the national highway 17 from Kundapur to Talapady under phase three of the National Highways Development Project would be affected. “The contractor is facing the problem of gravel shortage,’’ he said.

The official said that the NHAI’s contractor was not in a position to set up new crushing units as it was banned. It was because the safe zones for such units had not been identified.