Stone crusher running without permission from pollution control board sealed in Himachal

Keylong (HP), Dec 5 (PTI) A stone crusher operating without forest clearance and permission from the state Pollution Control Board was sealed in the Chhatru area of Himachal Pradesh's tribal Lahaul and Spiti district, officials said on Thursday.

Road construction work is currently underway on the 37-km-long Package I of the Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphu road. The company responsible for the construction had set up and operated a crusher and hot-mixing plant without obtaining consent from the pollution control board, according to Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Keylong, Rajneesh Sharma.

"The crusher and the hot-mixing plant have been sealed as they were operating without the appropriate permissions from the pollution board and in violation of the Forest Conservation Act," said the SDM, adding that the company had set up the crusher on forest land.

The action was taken following an order from the member secretary of the pollution control board, officials said.

"A letter will be sent to the mining officer, who will assess the crushed material and impose a penalty as per the rules. We had issued a notice to the crusher operators for violating the norms and sent a report to the Shimla office, following which sealing orders were received on December 2," said Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Pollution Control Board, Sunil Sharma.

Noting that the Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphu road is crucial for both public and defence purposes, the officers said the crusher can resume operations once the necessary permissions are obtained. PTI COR BPL ARD ARD