Quarrying work resumes in Panthachowk, Athwajan after 4 years of ban

Panthachowk: Local Quarry labourers in Panthachowk and Athwajan area heaved a sigh of relief as authorities granted permission to them for resuming quarrying of minerals after facing a ban for four years.
The resumption of quarrying of minerals was on Tuesday started by flagging off a truck load of minerals by Bharatiya Janata Party national youth vice president, Er Aijaz Hussain at Panthachowk.
Hussain expressed gratitude to Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Manoj Sinha, Commissioner Secretary, Manoj Dewidi and the administration for granting permission for quarrying to local labourers.
“The quarrying of minerals was banned for a long time and people of Panthachowk, Athwajan and surrounding villages were suffering due to the ban as their livelihood was badly hit, they were drowned in loans.
He appealed to LG for allowing other quarries to resume their normal operations.
He also advocated for cancelling quarrying contracts of non UT citizens and hand over these contracts to locals so that work avenues are generated for locals who have been badly hit by COVID-19 lock down.
Talking to Kashmir Reader,Bashir Ahmad President stone quarry association Panthachowk thanked Hussain for raising their grievance time and again before authorities.
“We appeal to LG, Commissioner Secretary, Director Geology and mining to help us in getting quarry license and environmental clearance,” he said.
“We are in a deep economic crisis and we have bank loans, we were unable to repay the loan, as quarrying was our sole means of livelihood. We request authorities to ease out our quarrying work,” he said.
The ban had also hit the livelihood of truck drivers, their assistant’s, and other mechanical operators for this job.

 

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