To streamline the functioning of crusher units and safeguard the environment, the Punjab govt has decided that only crusher units that have obtained consent to establish from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) after due verification of the legal source of materials will be registered by the department of mines and geology.

For new crusher units that received consent to establish from the PPCB before June 15, 2024, without prior verification of the legal source of materials, the director of mines and geology will conduct a verification process before registering the unit for the first time.To be considered for registration, new crusher units must be located within 20-25 km of commercial mining sites (CMS), as per the criteria for verifying the legal source of the material.

The director of mines and geology will link each new unit or cluster to operational CMS sites within a 20-25km radius to determine material availability, and at least one of these calculations must be favourable for registration. Additionally, registration will be banned in areas where the raw building material (RBM) source is fully “exploited” meaning that the total quantity of RBM is less than the total annual RBM required by the linked crusher unit(s). It is assumed that each crusher unit runs at 75% capacity for 300 days in a year. A list of CMS sites with surplus material will be prepared every Feb.

Besides that, operational de-silting sites and sites containing stacked material from de-silting operations within the district/neighbouring districts will also be taken into account for verifying the legal source, provided that RBM from such sites is available for sale by the department of water resources or by a person authorised by it. For crusher units located in Punjab but near its borders with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, or the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a report from the respective state or UT confirming the availability of surplus RBM for sale from a legal mining site within a 25-km radius of the crusher unit will be sufficient to verify the legal source.

A registered crusher unit is permitted to source raw materials from any other legitimate source. In such cases, the district mining officers concerned will verify the legitimacy of the source by reviewing the monthly returns filed by the crusher units. If any discrepancies are found, immediate action will be taken in accordance with the Punjab Crusher Policy 2023.

These steps have been taken in compliance with the National Green Tribunal’s order, which directed of Punjab to take remedial action to limit the number of stone crushers in accordance with the carrying capacity of legitimate sources of raw material and to take action against stone crushers that lack accountable sources of raw materials. The PPCB has filed a status report with the NGT, outlining the measures taken to address the issue.