Stone Crushers Amendment Ordinance, 2020 helps mining lobby, claims PIL in Karnataka HC

BENGALURU: A public interest litigation( PIL) filed in Karnataka high court claims that the Karnataka Regulation of Stone Crushers Amendment Ordinance,2020 came to be issued on March 31 so as to help mining and stone crusher lobby.
Petiitoner R Anjaneya Reddy from Chikkaballapur has stated that when the entire state was under national lockdown,there was no emergency situation for the state government to invoke the powers vested with governor to promulgate the ordinance .
He says that insertion of section 4A paves way for license holder to transfer the license to anyone like a private property.
Further, the petitioner has added that substitution effected to in section 5 enables a license holder to get 20 year lease , renewable by another 10 years , virtually making him/ her as absolute owners of the public property. According to him, the said substitution is contrary to high court’s directive stipulating one year license period and renewed every year thereafter.
As regards to amendment to section 6, the petitioner has stated that it will virtually dilute the safer zones concept as now stone crusher units are permitted within 50 meters from major roads or other roads as against 100 meters earlier. According to him,the amendment totally dilutes the high court directive stipulating that no safer zones should be located within 1.5 km from state highway and 500 meters from link roads.
A division bench headed by chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka which heard the matter, has ordered notice to the state government.