Quarry workers go on indefinite strike,may hit major projects

A convention of the Gujarat Blackstone Quarry Industry Association on Thursday apprehended that closure of the industry for an indefinite time would adversely affect pace of development projects besides affecting the business of quarry owners themselves.

The association said the sector is suffering due to frequent announcement of new circulars,notifications and oral instructions from the Industries Commissioner. “There is so much interference from the state government that several quarry owners are seriously thinking of turning to some other occupation,” said Association president Hitendrabhai Upadhyay.

On Friday night,the association had turned down an offer,saying that they would now meet only the cabinet minister concerned or the Chief Minister.

The major demands include making e-royalty and weighing scales voluntary,renewal of leases and issue new leases besides uniform implementation of rules in all districts and resolution of pending disputes in two years.

Also,it has demanded that instead of harassment from all the government departments,quarry related issues be handed over to the mining department. “Until these demands are not met,the quarry industry will not resume any work,” he said.

Upadhyay added that the overall loss to industry and the businesses would come to around Rs 500 crore a day.