Srinagar : CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Sunday said That it is the need of the hour to allow workers to resume their work in other stone quarries across the Valley.
In a statement issued, Tarigami said that The recent decision of Jammu and Kashmir administration to permit stone quarry workers of Panthachowk area of Srinagar to resume their work is satisfactory, but the need of the hour is to allow workers to resume their work in other stone quarries across the Valley.
The move to ban stone quarry works has left thousands of people jobless and their families in dire straits, He said.
While the ban on stone quarry works in Panthachowk has been lifted, at S K Bala, Bandipora, Safapora in Ganderbal, Kulgam and Shopian etc it is still banned. It has not only created huge financial problems for the people associated with this work, but also created a shortage of construction material in the market, Tarigami Said.
The banning of stone quarry works and mining has led to the sky rocketing of the prices of construction material and common people are finding it hard to even think of starting any construction activity. If the government has lifted the ban at Panthachowk, which is appreciable, why is it taking long to allow stone quarry workers to resume their work in other places? One fails to understand on which criteria quarry work in one particular area has been permitted and others not, He said
Adding ,These workers are registered with the geology and mining department for decades and banning their legal activities has created a situation where their families may have to starve if the ban is not lifted immediately.
I hope that the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir will personally intervene into the matter and order the concerned authorities to immediately lift the ban on stone quarry works across the valley, He said.
