Status of Stone Crushers in Pune, Maharashtra

March 28, 2023

The stone-crushing industry is small-scale but the fugitive emissions it generates have a serious impact on the environment and human health. While stack emissions are considered major contributors to industrial air pollution, fugitive emissions also play a crucial role in the ambient air pollution of an area and hence need immediate attention.

The CSE team did the study of stone crusher units in Pune, Maharashtra, and the environmental performance rating of the 15 surveyed units was done and it was found that most of the units are not environmentally compliant. More than 90 percent of the surveyed units have scored less than 40 percent in the environmental performance rating. This clearly highlights the laxity in the ground implementation of the state guidelines and recommendations given by the joint committee of CPCB and MPCB during one of the NGT cases. It was also observed that in none of the surveyed units, there were silos to store raw materials, telescopic chutes to transfer the materials, covered trucks for carrying final products, a strong structural base for wind-breaking walls, internal pucca roads for all the road stretches, and workers wearing PPE kits.

As per the survey conducted it was found that around 97 percent of the stone-crushing units have gaps in the wind-breaking walls, which also do not have a strong structural base and are not adequately designed, 69 percent of the surveyed units have partially covered (open at some locations) conveyor belts, around 80 percent of the surveyed units have a partial covering of trees of inadequate height around the periphery, which would not be able to act as a barrier against dust emissions.

The report gives recommendations for each process as well as some general measures that can be taken at the stone-crushing unit to curb air pollution. These recommendations have also been compared with the current MPCB guidelines so that their shortcomings can be understood easily.

CSE has done a similar study in Rajasthan and Haryana also
https://www.cseindia.org/implementation-challenges-of-environmental-guidelines-in-the-stone-crusher-industry-11164



For more details on the same, please contact

Divyansh Upadhyay
Senior Research Associate
Industrial Pollution Unit
Centre for Science and Environment
Email id: divyansh.u@cseindia.org