Black stone miners threaten stir

Infrastructure projects in the state are likely to take a hit as the Gujarat Blackstone Quarry Industries Association on Tuesday threatened to continue its strike.

Infrastructure projects in the state are likely to take a hit as the Gujarat Blackstone Quarry Industries Association (GBQIA) on Tuesday threatened to continue its strike due to non-responsive attitude of the government towards their pending demands.

The association members had suspended work on December 31 in support of their demands,bringing to halt production of black stone (gitti) at over 2,000 quarries spread across the state.

We will intensify the agitation if the government does not respond to our 20-point charter of demand. The introduction of new clauses like e-royalty payments has made things difficult for the industry, GBQIA president Hitendra Upadhaya said.

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The work at quarries comes to a halt anytime under the garb of shortcomings found during the so-called system audits conducted by the officials,resulting in losses to industry,he claimed.

According to GBQIA,each quarry has production capacity of 1,000 tonnes of black stone per day,and if the strike continues the ongoing infrastructure development projects will take a hit. The black stone industry in Gujarat is estimated to provide both direct and indirect employment to around 2 lakh people,besides engaging over 1.5 lakh trucks.

Gujarat Commissioner for Geology and Mining Vinaya Vyasa refused to comment on the issue.

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