Road projects in Nashik came to a halt because of lack of availability of a key raw material, ‘murum’ soil, with the environment ministry yet to approve mining of stone quarrying in the district.
It may be noted that the a Supreme Court (SC) order makes it mandatory to obtain environmental clearance for mining of minor minerals, even on land less than five hectare.
The mining proposal has to be scrutinised by the state environment assessment committee (SEAC) and then approved by the state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA).
It is learnt that proposals sent by city miners and contractors are pending for approval. As a result, stone crushing for ‘murum’ soil has come to a standstill. This has in turn affected road building works.
According to District collector Vilas Patil, contractors have to apply individually and that the primary hearing committee, the SEAC, has approved the proposals.
Now, the higher committee, the SEIAA, will have to approve them.
Sources from the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) informed that around 70 percent of the road construction works have come to a halt.
Additional District Collector BH Palve, who also looks after mining, said that there are 152 stone crushers and 225 quarries in the district.
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