Show cause notice likely for stone crushing units

    13-Apr-2021
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Show cause notice likely
By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Apr 12: Individuals and firms running stone crushing units at Moidangpok and adjoining areas in Imphal West district would soon receive show cause notices.
Volunteers of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) Against Polluting Factories/Industries in and around Moidangpok, Moidangpok Khunou and New Keithelmanbi and Directorate of Trade, Commerce and Industries, Internal Task Force (Mining) OC Thongam Phulchand have already inspected the stone crushing units located at these areas.
Speaking to media persons in the course of the inspection tour, Phulchand said that there are around 10 stone crushing units but none of their proprietors could produce necessary permit, licence, NOC etc.  
A report of the inspection tour would be submitted to the higher authority and show cause notices would be served on the individuals and firms which are running these stone crushing units, Phulchand said.
Moreover, necessary legal action would be initiated as per the Factory Act, he said.
He said that they went on an inspection tour following a complaint from the JAC. If any stone crushing unit should be opened, it should be at least 500 metres away from National Highways and human settlement areas.
Moreover, necessary licence or permit should be obtained from the authority concerned. Further, NOC should be obtained from the local authority or the local people, said the OC.
He stated that establishment of stone crushing units on paddy fields is prohibited.
JAC president Th Amumacha Meitei said that the stone crushing units not only usurp paddy fields but also leads to air pollution as well as noise pollution.
At the same time, some people have been working to set up a hot mix plant and two brick firms in the area, Amumacha said. The stone crushing units have created serious problems for agriculture. Farmers cannot work in the field because of thick clouds of dust churned out by these stone crushing units, irrigation canals have been clogged and cattle owners have been facing shortage of fodder as grazing ground have been covered with thick layers of dust, he said. These stone crushing units are also violating the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2014 as the places they occupy are all paddy fields, said the JAC president. Boulders used at these stone crushing units are brought at night and the sound generated by unloading of boulders have become a big nuisance to the local people, he said. He went on to ask from where the boulders are excavated and whether the excavation is permitted by Forest Department by levying tax.
The JAC wants these stone crushing units to be shifted elsewhere, Amumacha said.
Aheibam Biren, a volunteer of the JAC said that a private school (Sunshine Academy) is on the verge of permanent closure after the opening of a stone crushing unit near its compound.
As the school compound is always enveloped by clouds of dust, parents have shifted their children to other schools, he said. The community pond is also highly polluted as the water surface has been covered by thick layers of dust generated by stone crushing units, Biren added.