SRINAGAR: At least 31 stone crushers in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory are owned directly or indirectly by politicians and bureaucrats, according to a report submitted in the Union Territory Assembly on Tuesday.
The report was submitted Deputy Chief Minister and Mining minister Surinder Singh Choudhary in response to a question by BJP MLA Dr Narinder Singh Raina.
Choudhary, in the written reply, noted that 31 stone crushers in the UT are owned directly or indirectly by politicians and bureaucrats.
Of the 31 stone crushers, eight are Jammu district, six in Kathua, four in Udhampur, four in Poonch, three in Reasi, and one each in Samba, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Ramban, Ganderbal and Kupwara.
29 out of 31 stone crushers are in the Jammu region while only two are in the Valley.
The DyCM also informed the Assembly that 48 crusher units in J&K have been closed and sealed in districts of Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur, Pulwama and Kupwara.
People in many areas have complained that the stone crushers are existing in the residential areas and these should be closed due to the harmful effects on the population and habitation by the pollution caused by these units.