Illegal quarry fined Rs 1.5L by green panel

Retired jawan pursues issue with NGT as dust from stone crusher chokes crops

The Pune bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday asked a stone quarry owner in Ambegaon to pay environmental compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh for running the mine in a village without anybody’s knowledge and without any nod from the authorities. The quarry owner will have to deposit the amount with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) within one week.

The bench of Justice SP Wangdi and expert member Dr Nagin Nanda also ordained that if the quarry owner fails to deposit the amount within the deadline, the penalty will be doubled.

Babusha Genbhau Tambe, a 62-year-old retired jawan from the Indian Army, had unearthed the secret around three years ago about the illegal operation of the stone quarry at Shirdale village near Ambegaon taluka, a few kilometres away from his agriculture plot. Plagued by an excess of dust on his field, Tambe started looking for the source and finally came upon the illegal quarry whose operations he tried he tried to shut down. However, despite three years of struggle, authorities did not pay any heed. Finally he approached the NGT in June last year.

During the last hearing on June 17 the bench asked the owner of Mate Sevi Stone Crusher Company to shut down operations. Following this, the quarry owner approached the bench seeking disposal of the case in view of the fact that it has obtained the consent to operate as well as environment clearance during the course of the hearings.

“Considering the fact that the crushing unit was running without necessary consent for more than two years, we deem it essential to invoke the polluter’s principal and direct the quarry owner to pay environmental compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh. The amount shall be deposited with the MPCB within one week. If respondent fails to deposit the amount, the penalty shall be doubled,” the NGT order reads.

Talking to Mirror, advocate Omkar Wangikar, who represented Tambe, said, “We had argued before the bench about permanent closure of operations. But the quarry owner managed to get permission by fulfilling all the requirements. However, our petition compelled the respondent to curb polluting activities.”

Advocate Gauri Kawade, who accompanied Wangikar, said, “The quarry owner will have to set up a conveyor belt to reduce dust. The plant need to be barricaded with walls and the owner has to create a green belt around the quarry to avoid contact with the surrounding agricultural area.”

Tambe told Mirror, “I am not happy with the penalty amount, but the order will certainly prevent pollution in the area. The authorities who did not pay any heed should have been penalised.”

The retired soldier, who owns 22 acres of ancestral land around Shirdale village, had made several rounds of the Ambegaon tehsil office, the district collectorate and the mining department, but to no avail.