Not all diamonds are forever
Many stone crushers are illegally extracting deposits of gold, silver, diamonds and mercury in the Margalla Hills.
ISLAMABAD:
More than 200 stone crushers are illegally extracting deposits of gold, silver, diamonds and mercury in the Margalla Hills, which is state property, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The deposits, allegedly worth trillions of rupees, have been mined in the Margalla Hills and the adjacent hilly tract of Rawalpindi and Chakwal districts since 1984, when General Zia-ul-Haq allowed stone crushers to install plants there to mine stone for construction.
Irshad Ali Khokhar, Director General, Mines and Mineral (Federal Capital), confirmed that precious metals and stones have been illegally extracted for years, as did Akhtar Javid Malik, Director General, Mines and Minerals (Punjab).
Asif Shujja, Director General of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, told The Express Tribune that complaints against the stone crushers were increasing “with every passing day”. Khokhar explained, “We wrote a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to ban the activities of these stone crushers and declare the area a ‘red zone’.”
Three months ago, Malik wanted to visit the mineral sites himself, along with mining experts. “But law enforcement agencies of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) did not allow us to go,” said Malik.
Muhammad Sajjad, a minerals expert, said he had written various letters to the Interior Ministry, the Punjab Mines and Minerals department, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and the ICT about this issue, but no action has been taken as yet.
Zaffar Iqbal, Director General, Mines and Minerals (Islamabad), said they wrote a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for cooperation, but that too in vain. “A team, headed by Captain Ghulam Fareed, has been constituted to investigate the whole matter,” he added. Captain Fareed refused to comment until after the investigation.
Tasneem Qureshi, State Minister for Interior, also personally wrote a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to take notice of the illegal extraction of precious stones, said a senior interior ministry official, on conditions of anonymity.
He told The Express Tribune that separate letters had been sent to the Chief of Army Staff and the FIA for action against these crushers.
Sajjad claimed that these stone crushers are running their plants without No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from ICT or the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
He appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take action, not only against the stone crushers, but also against the businessmen who have been backing them since 1984.
Two months ago, Ministry of Environment officials told Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif that stone crushing and mining in the Margalla Hills was damaging the environment and causing losses to the state of billions because of the illegal extraction of precious metals and stones.
Kamran Lashari, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, said the Ministry of Environment had sent recommendations to close down the stone crushers’ factories. “Stone crushers are working illegally, as the dates of their licenses have been expired for years,” he said.
Most stone crushers were not willing to speak about this matter. However, Khwaja Javid, Chairman of the Stone Crusher Owners Association Taxila, said, “When the government is monitoring our activities, how can we ‘steal’ precious stones?”
Javid said stone crushers were always being pressurised in one way or another to seal their factories, even though they were regular taxpayers. “More than 50,000 employees are working in these factories. Do you really want to we close them down?” he said.
Officials from the Ministry of Environment, the CDA and ICT held a meeting four days ago to discuss the situation.
However no plan has been finalised as yet to take action against those extracting precious stones illegally from the Margalla Hills.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2010.
More than 200 stone crushers are illegally extracting deposits of gold, silver, diamonds and mercury in the Margalla Hills, which is state property, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The deposits, allegedly worth trillions of rupees, have been mined in the Margalla Hills and the adjacent hilly tract of Rawalpindi and Chakwal districts since 1984, when General Zia-ul-Haq allowed stone crushers to install plants there to mine stone for construction.
Irshad Ali Khokhar, Director General, Mines and Mineral (Federal Capital), confirmed that precious metals and stones have been illegally extracted for years, as did Akhtar Javid Malik, Director General, Mines and Minerals (Punjab).
Asif Shujja, Director General of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, told The Express Tribune that complaints against the stone crushers were increasing “with every passing day”. Khokhar explained, “We wrote a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to ban the activities of these stone crushers and declare the area a ‘red zone’.”
Three months ago, Malik wanted to visit the mineral sites himself, along with mining experts. “But law enforcement agencies of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) did not allow us to go,” said Malik.
Muhammad Sajjad, a minerals expert, said he had written various letters to the Interior Ministry, the Punjab Mines and Minerals department, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and the ICT about this issue, but no action has been taken as yet.
Zaffar Iqbal, Director General, Mines and Minerals (Islamabad), said they wrote a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for cooperation, but that too in vain. “A team, headed by Captain Ghulam Fareed, has been constituted to investigate the whole matter,” he added. Captain Fareed refused to comment until after the investigation.
Tasneem Qureshi, State Minister for Interior, also personally wrote a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to take notice of the illegal extraction of precious stones, said a senior interior ministry official, on conditions of anonymity.
He told The Express Tribune that separate letters had been sent to the Chief of Army Staff and the FIA for action against these crushers.
Sajjad claimed that these stone crushers are running their plants without No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from ICT or the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
He appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take action, not only against the stone crushers, but also against the businessmen who have been backing them since 1984.
Two months ago, Ministry of Environment officials told Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif that stone crushing and mining in the Margalla Hills was damaging the environment and causing losses to the state of billions because of the illegal extraction of precious metals and stones.
Kamran Lashari, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, said the Ministry of Environment had sent recommendations to close down the stone crushers’ factories. “Stone crushers are working illegally, as the dates of their licenses have been expired for years,” he said.
Most stone crushers were not willing to speak about this matter. However, Khwaja Javid, Chairman of the Stone Crusher Owners Association Taxila, said, “When the government is monitoring our activities, how can we ‘steal’ precious stones?”
Javid said stone crushers were always being pressurised in one way or another to seal their factories, even though they were regular taxpayers. “More than 50,000 employees are working in these factories. Do you really want to we close them down?” he said.
Officials from the Ministry of Environment, the CDA and ICT held a meeting four days ago to discuss the situation.
However no plan has been finalised as yet to take action against those extracting precious stones illegally from the Margalla Hills.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2010.