ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: The Punjab government has been asked to stop granting new quarrying lease and extending those already issued to stone crushers working at Margalla Hills to prevent environment degradation.

“Mining leases to obtain limestone from Margalla Hills were granted without taking into account the ecological and environmental considerations,” Caretaker Environment and Local Government Minister Syed Wajid Hussain Bukhari said while presiding over a meeting on environment degradation being caused by quarrying of limestone in the hills.

The meeting was also attended by Environment Secretary Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, Chief Commissioner Islamabad Hamid Ali Khan, Pak- EPA Director-General Asif Shuja and officials of Pak-EPA Punjab, provincial department of industries, mines and minerals as well as the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The minister also directed Pak Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) to issue a seven-day notice to owners of stone-crushing units, asking them to stop their operations at Margalla Hills.

He said Pak-EPA should take legal action against stone crushers under the Pakistan Environment Protection Act-1997 to save the ecosystem and minimise threats to the environment in the area.

Mr Bukhari said the issue would be taken up at the highest level with the Punjab government to prevent environment from deteriorating further both in Taxila and Islamabad.

He was of the view that mining lease holders were not observing scientific quarrying techniques that caused de-shaping of mountains, insecurity to crushing mills staff and visual intrusion.

“A stage has come where attention must be focused on remedial measures for the ultimate restoration of affected sites,” he said.

On the other hand some owners of stone-crushing units have accused the federal government of adopting double standard on the whole issue because it was not taking any action against the same practice of limestone quarrying by cement factories established along Margalla Hills.

The meeting decided that the Punjab government should come up with a comprehensive plan so that the problem of stone crushing could be addressed on permanent basis.

It has been learnt that some previous governments had also tried to remove crushing units from the hills range but due to influence of their owners and litigation the problem could not be sorted out.

Interestingly, one of the main attractions in the business of stone crushing at Margalla Hills is that agencies like the National Highway Authority (NHA), Capital Development Authority (CDA), District Government Rawalpindi (DGR), Pak-PWD and others have made it mandatory for their contractors to only use gravels of Margalla Hills.

A portion of Margalla range in Islamabad falls in the National Park area where any activity harmful to the environment has been prohibited under a presidential ordinance issued in the early 1960s.

It has been learnt that tons of gravel is obtained everyday from Margalla Hills for construction projects as a result of which the range has disappeared at many places in Fatehjang.

The Margalla range mainly comprises sandstone and shale, which is very suitable for construction of buildings and bridges, a study carried out by the environment ministry said.

“This is the reason why the beautiful and green Margalla Hills are being eaten up because of the crushing activities and limestone mining which, in addition to destroying the natural landscape, is causing largescale environmental degradation and air pollution,” the study said.