Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Oct 13: A major protest was held here on Friday October 12 by the members of Quarry Owners' Association urging for quick solutions to problems faced by them due to ban on stone crushers. Employment has been highly hit due to the ban imposed by the Supreme Court, they said.
A vehicle procession was organized from Karavali circle to Udupi DC office, after which a memoradum was submitted to the DC.
The ban on stone crusher unit from September 22 has affected the economy and also infrastructure development, the protestors said.
"Work on basic necessities like road, bridges, dam, railway and building construction has come to a standstill. Transport sector, concerete mixing units and hollow block manufacturing units have been highly affected due to the ban," they said.
"More than a lac employees related to different employment streams are in trouble. The DK district has to be given a different stone mining agenda there nearly 200 stone crusher units here," they said.
Notice had been issued by the Supreme Court to shift all the stone crusher units to safer zone, and as per the directive, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on September 22 sent closure notices to the stone crusher units, resulting in complete stoppage of work in the construction and other sector due to lack of stock.
In 1998, a petition had been filed by Obayya Poojari, following which the high court issued guidelines to the state to identify safe zones for stone crushing units. This order was challenged by the Mangalore Quarry Association and Karnataka Stone Crushers’ Association in the Supreme Court. However, the Apex Court ruled in the state's favour and ordered shifting of units from unsafe zones to safer ones. As none of the crusher units were in the safe zone, the KSPCB directed the units to shut down.
More than 3,000 government and private construction contractors, especially the independent small house builders, are in a fix owing to the ban.
"The district administration and the state government has to interfere and urge the Supreme Court to implement modified mining rules for the undivided DK district, through which the unemployment problem can be stopped," the protestors urged.
Hundreds of people took part in the protest. DK District Stone Mines Owner’s Association president Manoj Shetty, secretary Shaji Neeliyar, K C Kamath, Shivaram Shetty, Annayya Nayak Patla, Nagesh Hegde among others were present.