NGT panel recommends 150-m safety distance between stone quarries, houses in Kerala

‘Existing safety distance of 50 m from the boundary of quarries prescribed by government is highly inadequate’

An expert committee appointed by the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi has recommended a safety distance of 150 m between stone quarries and residential or inhabited areas.   | Photo Credit: K. K. Mustafah

An expert committee appointed by the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi has recommended a safety distance of 150 m between stone quarries and residential or inhabited areas.

The tribunal had set up the joint committee after it had observed that the existing safety distance of 50 m from the boundary of the quarries prescribed by the government was highly inadequate.

Radial distance of 150m

The committee has recommended that rock blasting should not be allowed within a radial distance of 150 m from quarry blasting zone, if there are houses or structures not belonging to the mine owner within this distance. Thus, if the blast zone is in the periphery/boundary of the quarry lease area, distance criteria of 150 m has to be maintained from the nearest house/structure not belonging to the mine owner, it said.

The committee, which carried out scientific studies at nine select quarries in various districts, stated that the effect of noise pollution was significant up to 200 m in quarries that were monitored in Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Palakkad. Steps should be taken to limit the influence of noise to 150 m. Particulate matter emissions were recorded up to a distance of 100 m from the blasting zone and hence it can be considered as the influence zone of dust emissions, it said.

Special precautions

The report recommended special precautions during blasting within the danger zone. Stone quarry operators have to engage qualified mining engineers for overall supervision of routine blasting in a scientific manner and the norms issued by the authorities. Regulatory checks and surveillance mechanism need to be strengthened by the mining regulatory authorities for effective enforcement of stone quarry regulations.

The joint committee comprised experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee; CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee; the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun; Directorate General of Mines Safety, Bengaluru; and Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad.