Illegal stone crushing units come up in Nizamabad

​Nizamabad: Crushing of concrete rocks is going on at a rapid pace in the two districts of Nizamabad and Kamareddy in violation of rules and regulations. As a result, the lush greeneries in the villages are getting destroyed and polluted, thus, posing a health hazard to the people. Nature’s beauty is also getting destroyed in the process.

With the mafia controlling the rock crushing activities in the districts, rock crushing plants are being setup circumventing the rules, causing huge financial losses to the treasury. On the other hand, the mafia is making hundreds of crores of Rupees. The indiscriminate quarrying of rocks is also causing the pollution levels to rise abnormally.

Although the Central Pollution Control Board shifted the rock crushing plants form the ‘green’ category to the ‘red’ category two years ago, the order is not being implemented at the field level. Even after sleuths from the Vigilance Department made surprise checks, the officials remain indifferent and are not taking any interest in putting an end to the illegal quarrying of stones.

It has been found that the stones were being crushed illegally without getting any clearance from the departments concerned. It is alleged that 90 per cent of the crushing units did not have valid licenses to carry on their activities and moreover, they did not obtain any permission from the Central Pollution Control Board.

According to official records, there are 54 stone crushing units in the Kamareddy and Nizamabad districts and among these, only three of them have been set up legally after obtaining the required permissions. The remaining 51 units are functioning without taking clearance from the Central Pollution Control Board.

According to the stipulated guidelines while setting up a quarrying plant, it must be setup 800 meters away from the village and should be spread over three to five acres. Besides, it should be 500 metres away from the National Highway and it should also be surrounded by lush greenery. Unfortunately all these regulations were thrown to the winds while setting them up in the villages.

Due to the crushing of the stones near the national highway, motorists in Armoor, Nizamabad, Morthad, Jakranpalli, Dichpalli and Kammarpalli are suffering a lot due to the smoke emissions causing pollution. It is alleged that the hillocks and huge rock structures are being crushed to dust and smuggled to other parts outside the district.

Speaking to the media here on Thursday, a local villager Narayana said that several rock crushing units have been setup illegally and the mafia was minting money and also destroying Nature.

The officials of the Department of Mines chose to remain as silent spectators without taking any action, he lamented. Another villager Ramesh Babu said that the officials concerned failed to take any action despite making several complaints in this regard. He expressed the hope that the government takes stringent action against the corrupt officials and contractors and save the villages.