Following the directions of the Chief Minister Harish Rawat, the Tehri District Magistrate cancelled permission to all four stone crushers operating in the Maletha Gram Panchayat area, the native place of famous folk hero Madho Singh Bhandari. Members of the Maletha Sangharsh Samiti who have been protesting against the stone crushers continued their protest on the 40th day on Sunday. The committee convener Shurveer Singh Bisht said that the protest will conclude on Monday after felicitation of some of the agitators who had played a leading role in the agitation.
The Chief Minister’s media in-charge Surendra Kumar Agarwal said that CM Harish Rawat has assured the protesting public at Maletha that the State Government is committed to keeping the memory of Madho Singh Bhandari alive in Maletha. No stone crushing or similar activity will be allowed at Maletha though the State Government is trying to find a solution to the problem in the light of the High Court decision. Suggestions will be taken from all concerned to find a solution to the problem, said Rawat. The CM further said that he would work to develop Maletha as a historical place in the memory of Madho Singh Bhandari.
He has also directed the District Magistrate to put a stop on stone crushers and related activities in the area.
Meanwhile, Bisht thanked the CM for ordering a stop on the four stone crushers in Maletha Gram Sabha area, but added that the three stone crushers in Juyalgarh Gram Sabha were still operating. Since the residents of Juyalgarh had also actively participated in the agitation against the stone crushers, the protesters are obliged to see to it that the stone crushers operating in Juyalgarh are also stopped. The plan of action to get the Government to put a stop on the stone crushers in Juyalgarh will be chalked out on Monday. Bisht informed that Maletha is famous for it is here that Madho Singh Bhandari is believed to have sacrificed his only son to bring water to the area in the 16th century. The locals believe that it is due to Bhandari’s sacrifice that land in the Maletha region is still fertile and lush with vegetation.
Environmentalists point out that before granting approval to stone crushers in the Maletha and adjoining areas, the authorities did not heed the norms and ignored reports from the Revenue department, Mining department, Forest department and the pollution control board. The locals were agitating against the stone crushers on the grounds that these would prove detrimental to the flourishing agriculture in the region.