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Stone-crushing units give a go-by to norms

Staff Reporter

Pollution Control Board issues closure notices to violators in the State

Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

HEALTH HAZARD: Poor families from neighbouring states work in a crusher close to a quarry in Khurda near Bhubaneswar.

BHUBANESWAR: Despite State Pollution Control Board's (SPCB) closure notices, quite a good number of stone-crushing units, which mushroomed in recent times to meet demands of fast industrialisation and real estate boom in Orissa, continue to operate in different parts of the State.

The SPCB identified 150 stone-crushers in the State, which violate pollution control norms. But nearly 80 per cent of these units are running purely violating the SPCB's order, according to sources in the board.

The nodal agency for monitoring pollution has surveyed all the 924 stone-crushing units across the State and after detailed assessment about 150 units are found to be on wrong side of SPCB's guideline.

Blame game

In Jajpur district, the board has spotted as many as 94 such units, which are operating close to human habitation or highways. Sources say the district administration is yet to enforce the closure. The district has the highest 225 stone-crushing units in the State.

Both district administration and SPCB are accusing each for the lapse in implementing the closure notices. "We are ready to provide any kind of police and magisterial support to the board to close these units. But the board officials should follow it up after serving the notices," says Jajpur District Magistrate Arabinda Padhee.

He said: "we have already directed tehsildars to monitor if the stone-crushing units are relocating their operation. We could serve closure notice from our side at any moment now." The SPCB officials, however, say: "board's work ends with spotting violation of pollution norms and suggesting prevention measures but it is the duty of district administration to ensure that its orders are implemented." In Khurda district, 156 stone-crushers have been identified and 25 of them have been served closure notices. But most of these defaulting units have approached courts challenging SPCB's order to evade the action.

The other districts, where concentrations of these units are more are Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Mayurbjhanj, Sunargarh and Bolangir.

Alarming situation

Of late, the situation has become alarming with the industry beginning to draw many vulnerable sections, including children and elderly people to its grip. Around the capital city, many people along with their family come to work from backward regions of the state. As a result, children get exposed to a number of health risks. These people feel the administration should adopt an integrated approach to divert their children to schools and ask operators to provide them protective apparatus in work zones.

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