HC orders weekly inspection of stone crushers in Nalagarh
The Himachal High Court has taken serious note of the issue of violation of environmental norms by a majority of the stone crushers in Nalagarh and directed the Assistant Environmental Engineer to inspect these units every week and submit a report to the Chief Environmental Engineer.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya directed the Chief Environmental Engineer to inspect the stone crushers every fortnight and submit a report to the Member Secretary, HP State Pollution Control Board, who after inspecting the stone crushers every month would compile the reports and submit these to the court as and when called for.
The court directed the authorities concerned to ensure that all trucks carrying raw material as well as finished goods would be covered with dust suppression cloth(s) and this would be duly ensured by the Baddi SP.
While passing the directions, the court clarified that the Department of Environment, Science and Technology and the Member Secretary, HP State Pollution Control Board, would be liable to ensure the order was complied with. The court directed the Baddi SP to ensure that there was no overloading of raw material or finished goods. Besides, the Department of Industries would ensure that the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023, were adhered to in letter and in spirit.
During the course of hearing, the details of environmental compensation imposed by the authorities were placed on record, which revealed that a Rs 75.25 lakh cost was imposed on eight stone crushers in Nalagarh. The court observed in the order that “It is not for the first time that environmental compensation has been imposed on the stone crushers but still some of these have been found to be not complying with the environmental norms.”
The court passed the order on a public interest litigation highlighting the violation of environmental laws by stone crushers in Nalagarh.
