TURA: The district administration in West and South West Garo Hills has ordered shutting down of dozens of illegal stone quarries operating along the Assam border.
Law enforcement teams have been deployed to ensure that the quarries, which have been operating for over three years without the administration’s permission, shut up shop.
Villagers and local NGOs had earlier alleged that government officials and police were allowing the illegal operation despite the widespread degradation it was causing to the environment.
The operation to shut down the illegal quarries has been welcomed by a local environmental group, Centre for Environment Protection and Rural Development (CEPARD).
“We have been fighting to put a stop to this widespread destruction of the environment for a long time. It is high time and we hope other districts will emulate this action,” said S.R Sangma of CEPARD.
According to green activists, over a hundred stone quarries and crushers are operating along the inter-state border in Garo Hills and stones are sold in the domestic market as well as Bangladesh with alleged assistance from unscrupulous government officials and businessmen.
The ongoing operation to clamp down on illegal quarrying has led several owners to close their quarries while others have made desperate attempts to continue work producing ‘documents’ that permit them to do so.
Those failing to fulfil the norms of the National Green Tribunal and the Pollution Control Board are being forced to close down quarries by magistrates backed by police teams after an inspection of the site and scrutiny of documents.
Most of the illegal quarries have been operating in the Pipulbari area of West Garo Hills, closer to neighbouring South Salmara district of Assam. Those operating quarries are violating the green tribunal’s laws which mention that stone quarries have to be at a minimum distance of 500 metres from the road while crushers can be set up 100 metres away.
