Stone quarry owners looking for relief at July 5 NGT hearing

With 26,000 stone quarries shut down due to failure to get environmental clearance, quarry owners are now hoping of some reprieve when the matter comes up before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on July 5.
They claim that the closure of mines has left ten lakh workers jobless in Jodhpur and Balesar and dealt a body blow to the local economy.
"The state government is making efforts to get the issue sorted. Issuing environmental clearance takes time as it is a long process and therefore the state government had sought time from NGT. Next hearing in NGT is on July 5 and the government will present its side more effectively," Secretary of Stone Sellers' Association Praveen Kachhawa said.

He said nearly ten lakh people, who are directly and indirectly associated with the mining sector, have been affected across the state.
The state has around 34,000 mines and stone quarries and only 7,000 of them are functional, whereas the remaining have been forced to shut down due to the absence of environment clearance, officials said.
"More than ten lakh labourers are without jobs after the stone quarries were shut down from June 1," President of Stone Sellers' Association Poorna Ram Gehlot said.

"The NGT had asked to obtain environment clearances and also extended time limit but the state government could not provide us any such arrangement that we could have obtained the clearance within the stipulated time period which resulted in closure of the quarries," he said.

"Labourers are facing very hard time. Jodhpur and Balesar region has 13,600 quarries and most of them have been shut down," Gehlot said.
Additional Director Mines (Environment) department Abdul Latif Sheikh said that of the 34,000 mines and quarries, only 7,000 are functional and the remaining are closed.
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot during his recent visit to Jodhpur met the agitating labourers and demanded that the government should address the issue as it is related to the livelihood of a large number of people.