Himachal govt decides to stop operations of stone crushers in river basins

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh ) [India], August 24 (ANI): The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to immediately stop the operations of all stone crushers on both perennial and non-perennial rivulets of the Beas river basin and its tributaries until further orders, said Chief Minister  Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday.
According to the Chief Minister, the decision has been taken considering the alarming transformation of the ecosystem during the current monsoon rains that wreaked havoc downstream in the Beas river basin and its tributaries in Kullu, Mandi Kangra and Hamirpur districts besides Chakki rivulet in the district of Kangra.
The decision has been taken to ensure the safety of human settlements and infrastructure, to preserve the fragile ecology and environment of the State. However, the lease of legal mining has not been cancelled.
The Chief Minister further said that the existing captive and temporary stone crushers shall not come under the purview of this order. He said that directions had been given to the Department of Environment, Science and Technology & Climate Change to convene a high level expert consultation meet inviting experts from IITs, NITs, R&D Institutions, and Universities, to identify the factors which formed such a disastrous position.
The Chief Minister said that the department will also conduct a comprehensive scientific study by constituting a Multi Sectoral Expert Committee to evaluate the cumulative impact of unscientific and illegal mining activities and also assess to redefine distance limits as based on the findings, thereby allowing more effective regulation and management of such operations to preserve the environment in River system and to avoid any such anthropogenic induced disasters in the state. (ANI)