Pathankot, October 20
Nearly 200 stone crushing units in Pathankot came to a standstill as their owners have decided to shut down operations following the alleged harassment by government officials.

In a memorandum submitted to Pathankot Deputy Commissioner (DC) Siben C, Vijay Passi, the president of the Mirthal unit of the Punjab Stone Crushers Association, said the Punjab government was harassing them despite the fact that they were bringing crushing raw material from the neighbouring state of J&K. He added that there was no Illegal mining being done in Punjab and officials were unnecessarily harassing the owners of crusher units. Saab Singh Saaba, a spokesman of the association, said all the 200 crushing units operating in the Pathankot area would not function till their problems were redressed by the officials of the Industries and Mining Departments.

“The government must know that the crusher units employ nearly 10,000 people and the economy depends upon this very industry," said Passi.

"Illegal mining has been banned in Punjab. That is why we are bringing raw material from J&K. Despite this, government officials are not allowing us to work. Nobody seems to be listening," said Kanwaljit Singh Dhillon, a mining contractor.