Environmentalists blast Parsik Hill quarry resumption in heart of Navi Mumbai, send SOS to CM

Thane Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde’s announcement to resume quarrying of Parsik Hills in the heart of Navi Mumbai has met stiff resistance from environment lovers after they sent an SOS to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Shinde had assured a delegation of local quarry operators that the quarrying, halted five years ago, would be restarted to help settle the Navi Mumbai Project Affected People and float 40,000 jobs, according to reports.

Describing the idea of restarting quarrying in the heart of Navi Mumbai as a “terrible idea in these days of pandemic” from both public health and ecological points, environment focused NGO NatConnect Foundation has suggested alternative sites to fetch stone chips required for construction.

Environmentalists also protested against the ongoing quarrying at Kharghar and said this is adding to the pollution, apart from playing with biodiversity.

“There are scores of social welfare schemes under which the PAPs can be settled and we do not have to continue to blast the already plundered hills,” NatConnect director B N Kumar.

The blasting of the hills was resumed later but stopped after the Forest Department pointed out that the quarry operators violated the licensed levels by mining 264.1 hectares against the permitted area of 138.07 hectares.

In an earlier development, the Pune Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) made environment clearance a prerequisite for the resumption of quarrying. The Forest and Environment Departments, apart from Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, opposed the quarrying, Kumar recalled.

“We are not opposed to either development or settling the people affected by the 50-year-old Navi Mumbai project,” Kumar said and reminded the local leaders and the government about the paramount importance of public health in these days of Covid havoc.

The government could, however, encourage quarrying on a cooperative basis in other parts of the State which are not inhabited, and thus offer gainful employment to the project affected families, Kumar said in his letter to CM Uddhav Thackeray and Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray.

NGO Shri Ekavira Aai Pratishthan (SEAP), has also appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and ensure that the Parsik Hill range is not blasted again and again. Some of the hills, he pointed out, have been blasted to the extent of 70 to 80% due to the greed of some of the operators, he said.

Pawar pointed out that CIDCO is also constructing affordable housing at the foot of the quarried hills. While this project is also patently wrong as it could face dangers of landslides, he said these housing colonies would be directly impacted by the quarrying.

Kharghar-based activist Jyoti Nadkarni said the authorities remained unconcerned about the dangers of quarrying in the node despite a series of complaints. “The officials are just passing the buck as the citizens suffer,” she pointed out.

Another environment activist Naresh Chandra Singh wondered as to how any government could allow quarrying amid residential areas. “It beats common sense,” Singh said, “No one seems to be concerned about public health and the environment.”

Check out DH latest videos: