Demand to restore power supply to stone crushers

Our Correspondent

Palampur, October 3

Owners of various stone crushers in Jaisinghpur have urged the government to restore the power supply, which was snapped in June in the view of the monsoon.

Vijay Kumar, an owner of a stone crusher, said the power supply of stone crushers in Jaisinghpur was disconnected arbitrarily by the state Mining Department for June and July. Rainy season was over in the first week of September, but the department had not restored the supply yet. He said Jaisinghpur was the lone area of Kangra where the power supply was disconnected, while in other parts of district, such as Nurpur, Dehra Gopipur and Rakkar, the Mining Department had allowed all stone crushers to function.

The Mining Department had also slapped huge penalties on the stone crushers without assigning any proper reason. He said the action of the Mining Department had rendered hundreds of workers jobless and resulted in a huge loss of revenue. He had paid advance royalty of Rs 19 lakh to the Mining Department before June, but his stone crusher had been lying closed, he added.

Owners of the other stone crushers said the government should immediately withdraw the penalties imposed and restore the power supply or they would be forced to move the HP High Court for seeking relief.

Jaisinghpur is the hub of stone crushing activities of Palampur region. Stones, gravels and sand are supplied from here to Kangra and Hamirpur to provide employment to hundreds of people.