Implementation challenges of environmental guidelines in the stone crusher industry: a case study from Delhi- NCR

Fugitive emissions, though a substantial contributor to air pollution of the area, have always been overlooked while preparing action plans to combat air pollution. Stone crushers are identified as one such sector with high potential for fugitive dust emissions. The sector has always been infamous for flouting environmental norms by generating air pollution and degrading environment. It has also been in the limelight for illegal stone-mining from various protected areas and thus have various cases filed against it at NGT and Supreme Court.

Thus, to delve deeper into the causes of pollution from this sector and to understand the current practices, the current study has been conducted in NCR areas of Haryana and Rajasthan mainly Faridabad, Gurugram, Nuh, Alwar, and Tijara. Both the states have notified guidelines for this sector for various environmental measures to control fugitive emissions. The report analyses on-ground implementation of sector specific guidelines by these units, evaluated the dust control practices and rated their performance.

These results found out that both weak sector-specific state guidelines and poor implementation of them have resulted into high degree of dust emissions during the operation of the crushers. In a performance rating of 24 units, ten units did not score any point, while the highest score obtained by a unit is 58 percent. The current report recommends various measures that need to be strictly implemented to continue the operation of this sector in harmony with environment.