Jammu, May 12: Apni Party president Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari on Friday said that a deputation of the Stone Crusher Association called on him here and presented a memorandum seeking an “end to the harassment” by the authorities.
According to a party statement issued here, the deputation members apprised Bukhari of the problems faced by them for the purchase of raw material and selling of finished material.
“The deputation was led by ST Wing President, Saleem Alam in which stone crusher’s deputation accompanied by Dev Choudhary and his team members met Bukhari sahib,” the statement said.
“Day by day our stone crusher units are being harassed either by the mining department and even by the law enforcement agencies as their loaded vehicles are seized and huge penalties are being imposed,” the deputation members complained.
They further informed Altaf Bukhari that recently district mineral officers have served notices to all the stone crusher owners for the installation of weight bridges on every exit point of the stone crushers and dumpers (mineral dealers) exit points. “However, the stone crushers are not in a position to install weight bridges which cost around Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 20 lakhs for installation,” they said.
They also demanded that the government should keep some mineral blocks exclusively for the stone crushers so that they can easily get the raw material. “All over India, except J&K, the Department of Mining keeps some mineral blocks reserved for stone crushers to make sure they get the raw material. They are ready to deposit some royalty and other taxes in advance to generate government exchequers if some mineral blocks are reserved for us,” they said.
Meanwhile, they also raised the issue of “harassment” by the mining lease holders to the stone crushers by getting more than the prescribed government royalty rates.
After hearing them patiently, Altaf Bukhari assured them that their demands would be projected before the concerned authorities for the redressal of the issues. He also assured that the Apni Party is committed to the welfare of every sector and to helping the business sector to grow in Jammu and Kashmir for its peace, and equitable development.
