Taxila: The local administration on Sunday sealed four stone crushers for the illegal extraction of limestone in the Babarki-Pathargath area of Hassanabdal, according to news sources.
Officials from the local administration and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), along with the Mines and Minerals Departments, visited the stone crushers plant and issued orders for immediate suspension of the illegal extractions.
Assistant Commissioner Adnan Anjum Raha said that the local administration and concerned authorities would audit the explosives licences of the four stone crushers, as the people involved have been operating on expired licences. He said that the Punjab Mines and Minerals Department had auctioned the 46-acre limestone block in Hassanabdal back in 2006 and the 10-year lease expired back in 2016.
Reportedly, the leaseholders took the matter to court for a stay order that was decided in 2017 – yet they continued extracting limestone without getting the No-Objection Certification (NOC) which is still pending with EPA.
Furthermore, Raja revealed that Deputy Commissioner Ali Annan Qammar constituted a committee to assess the loss caused to government by these illegal excavations of limestone in the said areas.
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