Thackeray turns green, calls stop to quarrying

“The future generation will not forgive us if we keep on playing with the nature with such activities,” Thackeray said after keeping the police on tenterhooks with his zig-zag visit.

Police officials said they skipped a couple of heartbeats seeing the `merry-go-round’ of Thackeray’s entourage which included Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, district collector Ujjwal Uke and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) managing director Vishwas Dhumal.

Thackeray is covered under `Z’ category security and his route covered risk prone areas sandwiched between the slum belt and the industrial zone.

Joshi said the government would come out with a plan on quarry zones in the city so that the development activity was not hit. “But there was absolutely no question of renewing the present licences,” he said and concurred with Thackeray’s forthright decision to halt quarrying.

However, Thackeray’s directive invited adverse reaction from the project-hit in Navi Mumbai who had been allotted quarries as an alternative source of income. Also, local quarries are a major source of an important input for the construction industry going on for over two decades.

The CIDCO, in charge of developing the satellite city, is the largest developer and hence the best customer for the quarry produce.

Navi Mumbai District Congress (I) president Dnyaneshwar Ramdas Patil told Express Newsline that the project-affected would have no alternative but to take to streets if their source of income was snatched away for the second time in 20 years. “As it is, we have lost our lands for the development of Navi Mumbai. This bolt from the blue will break our back,” Patil, also a quarry owner, said.

Others see political reasons behind Thackeray’s sudden outburst on quarries as yet another bid to keep in check Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik whose family also owns a quarry. In fact, it was alleged that Naik used to summon even officers to his `quarry office’ to give his decisions and orders. In fact, Naik stopped his `durbars’ at the quarry and began meeting his visitors at his Bonkode village house “to be accessible to all”. But there is one section which believes that Thackeray’s directive is a mere gimmick since quarrying nearly comes to a close during the monsoon. The construction industry as such comes to a halt in the rains and the activity would resume only after the Dussera.

The construction industry on the other hand fears the price of crushed stones will go up steeply due to Thackeary’s decision. Navi Mumbai Builders and Developers Welfare Association general secretary Atul Agrawal told the decision to stop quarrying altogether would have adverse impact on the construction activity.

“As it is we do not get quality sand here and non-availability of stones would definitely cause worries,” he said. Admitting that the environment should be protected at any cost, he called for striking a balance between blasting the hills and preserving the ecological balance.