Preparations for resumption of quarrying in the Gaula river should be completed by officials of the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC) in three days. The Nainital district magistrate Deepak Rawat said this while chairing a meeting to review preparations for the quarrying.
Rawat directed that quarrying on the Gaula should be resumed from all exit gates from October 1 and that arrangements to facilitate quarrying in other rivers of the district should also be completed on time so that quarrying can resume in all rivers in the month of October. Weigh scales and CCTV cameras should be installed at all the gates before resumption of quarrying work, he stressed.
The DM told the officials concerned that only registered vehicles with the required stricker will be allowed entry through the gates to carry quarried materials. In case of vehicles registered for quarrying are not being used for the intended purpose their registration should be cancelled. The UFDC and police should make sure that there is cent per cent verification of those employed as labourers for the quarrying work.
The DM further directed the forest corporation officials to undertake measures for welfare of the labourers like distribution of blankets, setting up of camp and facilitating education for the children of labourers through Muskan centres. It was pointed out in the meeting that depositing cash amount at the gate is not only time consuming but carrying the cash around is also problematic. Hence, it was decided that cash will be deposited on line and vehicles would be allowed entry with a token which will be valid only for one day.
Stressing that overloading will not be tolerated, the DM directed the sub divisional magistrate, police and RTO officials to conduct regular checking and night patrolling. He directed the SDM and police officers to ensure that vehicles deployed in the quarrying work operate on fixed routes during fixed periods to prevent detrimental effect on the flow of regular traffic. It was also decided that the vehicles registered for quarrying on the Kosi and Dabka rivers will have to compulsorily operate for 20 days in a month, failing which action will be taken to cancel the registration.
Nainital senior superintendent of police Senthil Akdai Krishnaraj said that the forest corporation should conduct verification of the labourers and issue them cards. The list of such workers should also be provided to the police to enable verification by the police, he stressed.