Owais Gul
SRINAGAR: Nearly three years passed since the government banned stone quarrying at Athwajan and Pantha Chowk, the authorities have utterly failed to come up with the apt location for the stone quarrying, thus rendering hundreds of people affiliated with trade jobless.
On December 1, 2016, Government ordered immediate banning of mining activities at Athwajan and Pantha Chowk quarries, terming stone extraction at these sites as “ecologically dangerous and harmful for the local populace”.
However, nearly three years have elapsed, but the government has not come up with the alternate location for them, therefore leaving hundreds of quarry workers jobless. “We are moving from pillar to post to seek justice but unfortunately nothing has been done in this regard,” Bashir Ahmad, a quarry worker said, adding that the government has pushed them towards starvation.
Following the ban, the government had identified Zewan area for mining purposes keeping in view the requirement of stones for construction purposes in Srinagar. However, the locals resented the move to shift quarrying work to Zewan.
“We are not against banning of quarrying because the government is planning to make Srinagar a smart city. But a large number of people are associated with the quarrying business and government must think about us,” a quarry owner told Valley Spectrum.
“There are nearly 80,000 workers associated with the business directly and indirectly. More than 300 quarry holders will also become jobless,” he said.
The ban order issued by the Commissioner Secretary, Industries and Commerce had said that stone quarries at Athawajan and Pantha Chowk not only present bad face before every person travelling on Srinagar-Jammu Highway but also have adverse impact on the ecology and environment of the area due to reckless mining.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan said that the government had already identified many alternative sites for stone quarrying in Kashmir. “The owners have to finalise the site themselves and work out the rehabilitation plans along with the third party provided by the Industries and, Geology & Mining Departments,” he said.
Khan said: “If the site was not feasible they should meet us to tell what needs to be done. We are not going render them jobless.”