The Federation of Karnataka Quarry and Stone Crushers Owners Association has withdrawn the indefinite strike it had been on since December 21. This comes after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai chaired a meeting with stone crusher owners in the presence of other Ministers concerned on Friday evening. Stone crushers will resume operations from Saturday.
Ravindra Shetty, president of the association, said the Chief Minister had assured them that the government would resolve all the issues they raised but in a phased manner after discussing it in the State Cabinet. Mr. Shetty said the Chief Minister had assured them that the government would collect the royalty for jelly stones and m-sand only from the crushers and not from the contractors again. The association had also demanded that a drone survey of the mines should be put off till the government brings suitable amendments to the rules governing the crushers.
The resumption of operations of stone crushers would ease the supply crunch of raw materials that had hit the construction sector.
