The government has constituted a high-level multi-departmental committee to examine and finalise the framework for reviving traditional stone quarrying activities at Panthachowk in Srinagar, Saderkoot Bala in Bandipora and other related locations, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary informed the Legislative Assembly.
Responding to a question by legislator Hasnain Masoodi, the Deputy Chief Minister said the committee has already held a series of meetings with concerned stakeholder departments and is expected to submit its recommendations shortly. He added that the committee’s draft report will be shared with the concerned members of the Legislative Assembly before its final submission to the government.
Addressing the issue of rehabilitation of former quarry holders, Choudhary said the department consolidated individual quarries located in ancestrally occupied areas, as reflected in departmental legacy data and certified by the Revenue Department, into quarry clusters eligible for licensing. Accordingly, 10 quarry belts in Lethpora, Mandakpal, Khrew and Wuyanin in Pulwama district were declared as quarry clusters and applicants were directed to obtain approved mining plans, environmental clearance and consent to operate from competent authorities for grant of licences. Of these, three clusters have since been withdrawn.
He informed the House that none of the applicants from the declared clusters have so far secured the required environmental clearance, consent to operate or no-objection certificates from stakeholder departments for formal issuance of quarry licences.
To support the livelihood of former quarry holders in Lethpora, Ladhu, Mandakpal, Khrew and Wuyan, the department has periodically issued permits for disposal of loose material available at quarry sites, he added. The Deputy Chief Minister said former quarry holders in the Kashmir division have been allowed to lift and transport loose quarry material for government works as a means of sustaining their livelihood. This includes holders of the Booh Awantipora quarry cluster in Pulwama, who were permitted to extract 34,650 metric tonnes of stone.
Legislator Hilal Akbar Lone raised a supplementary question during the discussion.
