Feb 11, Srinagar: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said a high-level, multi-departmental committee has been constituted to examine and finalize modalities for reviving customary stone quarrying at Panthachowk in Srinagar, Saderkoot Bala in Bandipora and other related locations.He was replying to a question raised by legislator Hasnain Masoodi in the Legislative Assembly.Choudhary said the committee has held a series of meetings with stakeholder departments and will submit its recommendations at the earliest. Once the draft report is prepared, it will be shared with concerned members of the Legislative Assembly before submission of the final recommendations to the government, he added.Regarding rehabilitation of erstwhile quarry holders, the deputy chief minister said the department clubbed individual quarries located in ancestrally occupied areas, as per departmental legacy data certified by the Revenue Department, and declared them as quarry clusters to be considered for grant of quarry licenses.He said 10 quarry belts in Lethpora, Mandakpal, Khrew and Wuyan in Pulwama district were declared as quarry clusters and directed to obtain approved mining plans, environmental clearance and consent to operate from competent authorities for formal grant of quarry licenses. Of these, three clusters have been withdrawn, he added.However, he said none of the applicants from the declared clusters have so far submitted environmental clearance, consent to operate and no-objection certificates from stakeholder departments required for grant of quarry licenses.To support the livelihood of erstwhile quarry holders in Lethpora, Ladhu, Mandakpal, Khrew and Wuyan, the department has issued disposal permits from time to time for loose material available at quarry sites, he said.He added that quarry holders in the Kashmir division have been allowed to lift and transport loose, slided and weathered accumulated quarry material for government works to sustain their livelihood. This includes the Booh Awantipora quarry cluster holders in Pulwama district, who were permitted to lift and transport 34,650 metric tons of quarry stone.Legislator Hilal Akbar Lone raised a supplementary question.
