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| Cement factories pollute picturesque south Kashmir, govt silent | | Khrew residents hold protest for second day | | Abdul Majid
Early Times Report
Pulwama, May 26: Around a dozen odd cement factories operate in brazen violation of the norms and cause huge pollution in south Kashmir, prompting the people to come out on streets and accuse government of shielding the factory owners.
On Tuesday, for the second consecutive day, people of Khrew observed a complete strike to protest government's silence on the pollution caused by the cement factories operating in the area. The government has been exempting these units from installing the mandatory pollution control machinery.
Reports said shops, schools, commercial establishments and public transport was hit by the strike which had been called by Civil Society Khrew, Auqaf-e-Islamia Khrew and Zaffron Truck Union Khrew.
Dozens of people, who included a number of students, also took to the streets alleging that the factories were causing massive pollution which has given rise to health problems. "The presence of these cement factories has converted entire area into dustbowl and has adversely affected our health," the protesters said, adding "many have died because of the pollution."
The protesters said the government has failed to come to their rescue. They said till last year, former Forest Minister Mian Altaf who also headed the Pollution Control Board "deliberately prevented action against the erring cement factories."
"Basically Mian Altaf and his National Conference shielded the big sharks in business for their personal interests, but now even the new dispensation has failed to act as they presumably have a nexus now," the protesters said.
Meanwhile, sources told Early Times that many of the cement factory owners were close to some senior leaders in the PDP-BJP coalition government.
"Basically it is because of these mantris from PDP and BJP that these cement factories are being allowed to operate in contravention of the norms," said an official in the Civil Secretariat asking not be named.
In a bid to boost industrial sector in Kashmir, over the years successive regimes allowed one after the other cement factory to come up in Khrew in contravention of the norms.
"Pollution control and other standards were compromised to safeguard interests of businessmen who would otherwise have to make huge investments for installing machinery to check pollution," said an official in Industries department.
He said if the government starts a crackdown on the cement factories, most of them would have to be sealed for violation of norms.
The Jammu industrialists on the other hand are fuming. "This is another glaring example of discrimination. When industrialists in Jammu are not allowed to even breath without completion of requisite formalities, how does government have unduly soft corner for Kashmir," asked a Jammu-based industrialist. He said he would pick up the issue with the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Federation Chamber of Industries Jammu.
But the Industries minister Chander Prakash and the Forest Minister Bali Bhagat have been silent over the issue. Jammu industrialists have also sought an explanation from the ministers over separate yardsticks for the two provinces. "These ministers owe an explanation to us," the businessmen said, adding that they plan to pick up the issue with the central government. |
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