91 units face closure in Solan, Sirmaur

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan,July 15

Mining units failing to obtain environmental clearances by July 12 have been asked to shut down.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had set July 12 as the deadline.

About 42 units in Solan district and 49 in Sirmaur district have been told to stop their operations.

Mining officer, Solan, Sarit Chander said only two stone crushers had the clearance in the district.

He added that directions were issued to HP State Electricity Board Limited to disconnect their power connections.

In Sirmaur district, three units having the clearance were allowed to continue their operations, said mining officer Suresh Bhardwaj. He said 10 to 15 units were in the process of obtaining the clearance.

The NGT had earlier directed all such mining units to get the clearance within six months. They were told to submit applications within three months. The NGT had also directed the state to ensure that no mining activity was undertaken till the clearance was sought from the authority.

Environmental clearance has been made mandatory for mining lease holders to ensure scientific extraction of minerals with minimal loss to the environment. A lease holder is supposed to present an elaborate environmental impact assessment (EIA) report detailing measures to mitigate the adverse impact of mining on the environment.

This report is first scrutinised by the state-level EIA committee and, if approved, it is forwarded to the EIA authority before a clearance is granted to a lease holder on land less than 5 hectares. All other cases where the land exceeds 5 hectares, the clearance is granted by a central authority.