Stone crushing units pose threat

BANGALORE: A spurt in stone crushing units has threatened the environment around Nandi Hills in Chikballapur district. What is more intriguing is that these units continue to operate in nosafe zones even after the High Court upheld the ban in February this year and the Apex Court in March.
The biggest quarry in the region is at K Narayanapura in the catchment area of the Arkavathy river and is said to belong to Bharati Cement, owned by a prominent politician from Andhra Pradesh.In March this year, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Karnataka govt for not complying with its order to shift stonecrushing units and gave it six months to do so. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly also imposed a cost of `1 lakh each on the state government and Quarry Owners Association which had pleaded for modification for its order on the ground that it was not feasible to implement.