44 stone crushers, 36 screening plants sealed in Mohali’s Dera Bassi area

Members of the Crushers Association alleged that no prior notice was served by the department.

In a major operation carried out by the mining department on Wednesday in the Dera Bassi and Mubarakpur area, 44 crushers and 36 screening plants were sealed as owners failed to produce the required documents.

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On the other hand, the members of the Crushers Association have opposed the move of the department stating that they were being harassed despite producing all documents.

According to information gathered from the spot, a team of mining departments reached the Mubarakpur crusher zone on Wednesday morning. The team was led by mining officer Simranjit Kaur Dhillon accompanied by a police party. Meanwhile, the team sealed 44 crushers and 36 screening plants in the area.

In the last few days also, stone crushers and screening plants were sealed by the department.

Crushers Association’s president Amarjit Bansal said that the department had not given any time or advance notice to the crushers and plant owners in this regard. Instead, direct action was taken. He said that during today’s proceedings the department was talking about the non-availability of requisite clearances whereas crushers and plants come under the MSME industry which was commissioned after regular licensing. “Thousands of people are employed here. This will result in a huge financial loss to the crusher and plant owners. No crusher or plant owner was given time to show documents during the operation,” he said.

In October this year, the administration detected 16 illegal crushers from the block, which have been functioning illegally for several months.