TAXILA: The Hassanabdal police have booked the owners of 31 stone crushing plants in various areas for operating their plants and quarrying illegally even though they were sealed by the local administration earlier this week.

The district administration and the environment department on Tuesday sealed 37 plants installed on around 46 acres of land in the Pathargarh and Babarki areas of Hassanabdal. However, 31 out of the 37 began operating again without official approval, unsealing the plants and quarrying limestone illegally.

Assistant Commissioner Adnan Anjum Raja and Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Director Shahbaz Ali visited the plants and found that 31 had been quarrying illegally, particularly in the Pathargarh and Darra markets.

Mr Ali told the press that a case was registered against the owners of these plants under sections 269, 270 and 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mr Raja said that authorities from the Islamabad Electric Supply Company are being directed to suspend power to these plants immediately.

The Punjab Mines and Minerals department auctioned a 46.03 acre limestone block in 2006, he said. The 10-year lease for quarrying in the area ended in 2016, but the leaseholders obtained a stay that was decided in 2017. The stone crushers were stopped from quarrying limestone by the mines and minerals assistant director, but they continued to do so even though a no-objection certificate (NOC) is still pending with the Punjab EPA, he said.

Mr Raja said that the department has already stopped auctioning limestone leases in the area because of its proximity to the sensitive installation of the Cadet College and the threat to the ecosystem and the environment.

He said stone crushers will only be allowed to carry out quarrying after obtaining a lease from the Mines and Minerals department and an NOC from the environmental agency.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2020